


found.

by galaxticangel



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Co-Parenting, Emotional Sex, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Force Choking (Star Wars), Forehead Touching, Good Parent Din Djarin, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Korkie Kenobi, Oral Sex, POV Din Djarin, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rough Sex, Slow Burn, Smut, Soft Din Djarin, Touch-Starved Din Djarin, Young Ben Solo, Young Poe Dameron, age gap, current age gap but she's like 28 so eh, kenobi original character, past boba fett relationship, past lando calrissian relationship, previous large age gap relationships but all legal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:22:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 65,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28910034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxticangel/pseuds/galaxticangel
Summary: Kyra Kenobi was searching for a Mandalorian. Din Djarin was searching for a Jedi. And they found each other.In a life where Satine wasn't killed by Maul, her and Obi-wan's daughter was born as the Republic fell and was trained in the ways of the Jedi and the Mandalorian until she joined the Rebel Alliance and witnessed the deaths of her parents at Vader's hands.For years she fought alongside the children of Anakin Skywalker and gained the reputation as the best warrior in the galaxy.But now the war is done.However when she learns of Boba Fett's possible survival and goes in search of him she doesn't expect to cross paths with a certain Mandalorian searching for a Jedi.The Mandalorian Jedi who has run from her heritage is forced to face and reunite with old friends, family and enemies alike it to save the Child from the regime who slaughtered her kind.But she doesn't expect to find herself falling for a Mandalorian bounty hunter who challenges her in ways no one else has dared, who doesn't know this mysterious General of the Rebellion is the heir to Mandalore and one of the last Jedi in the galaxy.A dangerous combination.
Relationships: Boba Fett/Original Female Character(s), Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s), Lando Calrissian/Original Female Character(s), Leia Organa/Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze
Comments: 48
Kudos: 99





	1. prologue.

I never knew life under the Republic, it fell in the months surrounding my birth.

All I ever knew was the Empire.

For years Mandalore was able to hide from it's wrath. Under my mother's leadership and protection they were able to silently resist and carry on without slaughter.

Until Darth Vader discovered my father still lived and hunted him to the ends of the galaxy. To Tatooine where he trained me, his only daughter.

Until then for most of my life I'd been raised on Mandalore, my father split his time between there and Tatooine to watch over the son of his fallen apprentice, to avoid suspicion that he was my father. In the absence of the Jedi and with Mandalore as fragile as it had ever been, he and my mother Satine reluctantly agreed that he would train me in the ways of the Jedi and that my aunt Bo-Katan would train me in the ways of the Mandalorian.

It was a balance.

Eventually, as whatever threat that was posed towards the boy on Tattooine and the suspicion regarding my father lessened he stayed on Mandalore, in the secrecy of the palace. Hidden under armour as her guard, only my mothers most loyal supporters knowing his identity.

Until the Empire finally turned its attention to Mandalore. Or more specifically our beskar. At the beginning she allowed them to mine what they could for the sake of peace but the mines went dry, and whatever beskar was left was within our walls and our armour.

Diplomacy began to become little more than a fragile dream. The people grew afraid and desperate, some grew murderous, and that's when my fathers existence was exposed to the empire. Whether they cut a deal or were tortured into the confession I'll never know, but Vader knew he was alive. And he knew that Lady Kyra Kryze, heir to Mandalore, was his former masters daughter and as he would soon discover, a member of the Rebellion. However it would not be until years later he discovered it was his own daughter who implored me to fight beside her against the Empire.

In retaliation for my mother hiding my Father for so many years who unleashed hell upon Mandalore, a hell that only stopped when my mother surrendered for the sake of her people, and placed Bo-Katan as regent while I escaped to Alderaan.

And so Leia and I risked it all for the Rebellion, for our planets. Two rogue princesses, defiant. Little did we know that in mere hours we would be two orphaned princesses sharing a cell, awaiting execution.

But not until I found her, my mother.

While Leia and the rebels smuggled out the intel we had received I fought my way into the cells where my mother was being held, cut down the door using my saber and saw her there in chains.

"Kyra?"

"You're alive," I whispered running in and checking if she was hurt. Which she was. "We need to go, now!"

I took her hand and tried to pull her to her feet but she couldn't stand and had greater worries than her safety. "Bo Katan?"

My aunt who ruled as regent with Darksaber. Who ruled over what little of Mandalore was intact after the civil wars that had battered it in the past years, it had begun to fall long before the purge.

"She's fine. Mandalore is fine. But we need to leave."

"Obi-wan?" She croaked. "Does Obi-wan know you're here?"

I shook my head knowing he was safe on Tatooine, unaware I had stormed Darth Vader's ship. Terrified of losing both of my parents to the Empire.

"Kyra," she sighed and coughed into her hand, when she pulled it away it was splattered with blood.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked checking her over unable to find physical wounds and realising the torture that's been done to her using the force. "We need to leave."

She grabs my wrist to keep me at bay. "My time has come my dear. You know it to be true, as does Obi-wan."

That's when my voice broke. "No. There's still time."

But we could hear the blaster fire. And I could feel the darkness.

"I will never leave this ship," she said and tears filled my eyes. "But there is still a chance for you."

"Please," I choked out but I could feel him growing nearer. "Let me take you home."

"My home is Mandalore," she said holding the side of my face. "As it is yours. You are a Jedi my dear, and a Mandalorian. The Mand'alor. It's fate is in your hands now."

"Please," I whispered, pleading for her to get up but she couldn't. "I need you. Please. Mandalore needs you."

"It has you." And then the pacifist, the woman who gave everything to bring peace to Mandalore whispered the words that broke my heart. "Never stop fighting."

It was then Vader came. Just as my mother's last breath had been stolen away. Almost as if she had just lost the will to live. And perhaps it was mercy or victory that Vader never got to execute her.

But if it was a victory it was hollow.

"Lady Kyra Kryze. Or should I say Duchess Kenobi now?" Vader said looking at my mothers body. "Your mother was wise, but not wise enough to be able to hide Obi-wan from me."

"Nineteen years is a long time," I'd breathed shakily and looked darkness in the eye. "Nineteen years this Empire has stood, but it will fall."

"Ah, so you are a rebel," he said and sounded amused. "Strange for the daughter of a pacifist."

"And a soldier," I finished.

"A soldier who has far more restraint than his daughter."

"He does," I said and in a fraction of a moment later my saber connected with his, blue and red colliding.

But even with the anger fuelling me I was no match for the power of the darkside as my throat tightened and I was lifted mid air. Only interrupted by the news they had captured Leia.

And we both suffered. Leia, for her they used droids. But me - Vader tortured me himself, by his own hand. Using my own weapon against me. The force.

Torturing me to draw my father out of hiding,

Until finally he won.

And so as Leia and I waiting for our execution my father, along with a farmboy, a smuggler and a wookie came to our rescue.

Then as freedom was close I saw him, sword to sword with Vader.

My father looked at me for the last time. His lips did not move but I could hear his voice so clearly.

The force is with you, always.

And a horrid scream was torn from my throat as he was struck down.

Leia and Luke had to drag me onto that ship as I screamed in hysterics at the loss of the two people I loved most in this word.

I swore to myself that day as Leia and I mourned that I would never stop fighting.

And so when the Death Star was destroyed I returned to Mandalore, a shadow of what it once was, and told my aunt that I would not accept the Darksaber, that I would not rule while the Empire reigned. That Mandalore would be destroyed as Alderaan was of I ruled.

To protect Mandalore I left Bo-Katan as regent and forgot my royal titles in favour of military ones,

With my family and my home a distant past I found another.

I found it in the son and daughter of Anakin Skywalker. In a smuggler and a wookie. And eventually in a con man.

A bunch of rebels and lost souls became a family.

And despite the war that raged it was the happiest time of my life.

Until the Great Purge.

Until I abandoned it all to fly to Mandalore saber in hand to defend it against the Empire until my last breath.

Only to watch it burn.

And nothing was ever the same again.

I was never the same again.

My aunt left me mourning in shame in the ruins in what had been my home and I could never touch my beskar again knowing how I had failed my people.

Then it became dark.

I took comfort in the arms and bed of an enemy bounty hunter, who was unknowingly Vader's right hand man.

Then came the betrayal, my first love handing me over to Vader with a blaster at my back.

All I had left was the fight inside of me.

The fight was all that kept me standing.

Until the war ended.

And I lost myself.

Even Lando's love could not make me break the promise I had made.

To never stop fighting.

And so I left behind the life I could have had to live as a rogue wanderer, seeking justice.

For so long I was lost.

Until I found him.


	2. one.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyra reunites with her family who present her with some troubling news.  
> Word count: 2.5k

Han and Leia's home is nicer than anywhere I've lived in a good ten years, since I left Mandalore to fight in the rebellion.

Then again, a senator's home on Chandrila should be nice, it should be peaceful. Filled with love and warmth and all the things I'd forgotten could exist.

In a different life it could have been my sort of home as well, a peaceful life with warm beds and a proper roof over my head instead of the cramped cot of a ship. The life I could have had if I stayed with Lando. It's the life my mother would have wanted for me, but that isn't the life I chose.

"We're debating when to send Ben to train with Luke," Leia's telling me before Luke arrives. "We want to wait until he's older but I want your input considering you're the only Jedi we know who was trained as a child."

I look at Ben, just four, nearly five years old, playing with Han's dice. An innocent child, a good child, but even though I've cut myself off from the force I can feel it within him, the darkness that tries to influence him.

The darkness Leia feels as well.

"He will need training in time but he's a kid, let him be a kid for as long as possible," I advise. "My father trained me, I was with both him and my mother as much as I could be until he had to go into hiding. But Ben, he needs his parents more than Luke for now."

She carefully considers my words and nods, looking at her little boy with adoration only a mother could have.

It's then we hear the door open and loud, familiar voices follow.

"There she is," Lando says opening his arms for me and I stand to hug him, a familiar gesture. He kisses my cheek and smiles broadly as he smooths his hand over my light auburn hair and takes in the emerald dress I wear. "Look at you, as beautiful as ever."

I roll my eyes playfully at his flirting but I can't help but adore the man. My friend. We were once far more than that but that's long behind us, both of us much prefer the friendship that came out of it. Yet there are some other less innocent memories that still make me blush that are far more recent then I'd ever admit to Leia.

"Missed me?" I tease and he chuckles, giving me a knowing wink.

"Always."

Han and Leia look at us like we're the biggest idiots in the galaxy, but we both know why it never would have worked. It was the most amicable parting I've ever had but considering how I parted from the lover before him anything would have been more peaceful.

"Uncle Wando," Ben says and I'm smiling as Lando picks him up but then a darkness settles over us and there's flashes of burning red before my eyes.

"I've missed you too little buddy," he dotes and I find myself fiddling with the ring on my finger that bears the Rebel Alliance symbol.

Leia notices something's not right. "Kyra, can you lend me a hand?"

I nod stiffly and follow her out into the other room where she stops me. "What is it? Is it Lando?"

"No, Lando and I are fine," I quickly assure her. "It's been years and things have never been awkward between us. He's one of my closest friends."

"Years?" she questions with a raised eyebrow. "I remember the last time you left here to go and have 'friendly drinks' with him was just a few months ago."

"Well," I say trying to come up with an excuse but there's none. "There's hardly any harm in it and I mean it when I say we're friends, most of the time at least."

Until we make the same mistake for what feels like the hundredth time. Waking up in his bed after what was meant to be an innocent evening, the first time the guilt kept me away for months, then slowly it became an unspoken agreement between us. That it was harmless as long as we avoided that attachment that broke us apart so long ago. An attachment I don't think I'm capable of feeling again. 

"Then what is it?" she asks and I struggle to form words. "Kyra?"

"Something isn't right," I tell her and my voice is hoarse. "I can't put my finger on it but-"

"Is it Ben?" she asks and she sees me hesitate. "Is it the darkness?"

"Leia," I begin carefully. "There is so much darkness out there, not just with Ben. The Empire isn't gone, it was never gone."

"Kyra," she says slowly. "They are just rogue Imperial officers and some stormtroopers, the senate isn't worried."

"Well they should be!" I snap and flinch as she reaches out to me. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I haven't slept well the last few days."

She stares at me with wide, confused eyes. "What have you seen?"

"It's not over Leia," I whisper and she listens carefully. "I can't give you proof, I can't go and give plans for a new Death Star to the senate. But I can feel it. It's not over. I have been out there for years, until the war ended and then ever since I left Lando. Fighting. At the beginning, after Cinder, they were scattered. We all thought they'd just die out in the shadows but they didn't. They are only getting stronger. When I try telling people at the top of the political food chain this alliance has become they tell me to keep my mouth shut and do my job."

She shifts uncomfortably and quietly admits "I've tried raising the issue as well but they aren't listening. You should come with me to speak to Mon Mothma."

"Oh no I'm not brave enough for politics," I dismiss knowing damn well that's not the truth and so I quickly add. "It's not my place. My place is out there in the field."

"It is," she hesitantly agrees, as much as she hates me being out there she knows it's where I belong. My purpose. "But I understand why you're frustrated. There are Imperials who escaped to the outer rims from the custody of the Republic like Moff Gideon and as far as the Republic is concerned they should stay there."

"Which is where I come in," I swallow knowing much of the work I've been doing the Republic doesn't know about. "But they're getting more sophisticated. It's not just an old officer working with crime gangs anymore. It's bigger than that now."

We're interrupted by the doorbell and Han calls out to us "Luke's here!"

While the boys are just thrilled to be together again Leia and I share greater concerns.

She squeezes my hand and promises. "We'll talk business after dinner."

~

And so we all have dinner together. Leia, Han, Chewy, Lando and I. Reminiscing about our adventures together. It seems like a lifetime ago. And perhaps it was. It has been five years.

"So how's Cloud City?" Leia asks Lando whose showed up cape and all as always.

"Same as always," he answers. "It's good seeing you all, it's been getting lonely up there."

"You need to find yourself a wife," Han comments and Leia rolls her eyes at him while I shrink back in my seat just a little more as Lando's eyes find mine. 

"Well, I've tried," Lando laughs awkwardly and I take a long drink, needing the liquid courage to diffuse the tension between us. Even after all those nights, there's thing's neither of us have dared speak of. 

"Lando Calrissian, looking to settle down," I comment knowing we were always going to be the last ones. But if it went the way he wanted it would have happened long ago. He's well into his forties now, while like Luke and Leia I'm nearing the end of my twenties. The age between us didn't seem like a big deal at first, it wasn't even the deciding factor in why we parted, but we always knew eventually it would matter.

"I'm guessing you aren't offering," he teases then looks confused my the way my eyes involuntarily fall, and the guilt that creeps into me.

Deep down we always knew that if we stayed together he'd eventually settle down like Han has, or well as much as Han is capable of, while I'd want to be out fighting. I was only just hitting my mid twenties, I was far from ready. A harsh truth which I denied until I couldn't, and I did what I always do. Run. That love we had for each other is still there, it's just different now. 

"I'm afraid my work in the outer rims isn't finished."

"A great tragedy indeed."

It's then Luke finally clears his throat and speaks up after having been unusually quiet. "Speaking of the outer rims-"

"There's something you should know," Han blurts out and Leia gives him a warning look. "I'm sorry but she should know."

Leia picks Ben up and takes him upstairs without another word and I'm left unsettled.

"Luke. Han."

Neither of them say anything and I turn my head to Lando who holds his hands up in self defence. "Don't go all Mandalorian on me now."

So I turn back to Han who is the worst secret keeper of all and he simply pours me a strong drink while giving me an awkward half-smile, half-cringe.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"I - uh, we should wait for Leia," he stammers as she walks back in and takes a seat, crossing her arms and looking at the boys expectantly.

They're all silent, looking at each other to speak first. It's Luke who ends up doing it. "Han and Lando told me about some rumours they'd heard."

"What rumours?"

Even he hesitates and it's Lando who looks me in the eye and tells me "Boba Fett is alive."

My heart stops, a fear that's nagged at my for years finally coming to fruition.

"No."

"It's true," Lando says and I feel Leia gripping my hand as I try to shut the memories out.

"I killed him."

At Jabba's palace. I cut him down for what he did to Han, for what he did to me.

"I had one of my guys swear he saw him on Tattooine," Han says. "No mistaking the armour."

"He's dead." I insist trying to stay calm and it's only as Leia starts whispering to me I realise I'm shaking. Luke stares at me with a knowing look in his eye. "Don't."

"You know he's alive," he says and I shake my head fervently. "You told me after we killed Jabba you could feel that Boba was alive."

"And I went back to make sure he was dead!" I finally confess to them in a rare outburst, in pain like only Boba Fett made me feel. "I found his armour buried in the sand of Tatooine and nothing else. He is dead."

Luke just shakes his head. "Search your feelings, you know-"

"That he's dead." I finish sharply, trying to reign in my fear until Lando pulls out a data pad and from it projects a blurry figure far too familiar and I swallow hard at the sight.

It may be blurred and distant but there's no mistaking the armour.

"We thought you needed to know. That after what happened between the two of you, you should know."

I can hardly breathe as all the memories I've tried to forget finally surface. Those nights I spent with him, how stupid I was. Knowing he worked for the Empire but refusing to believe it was because he wanted to. Having no idea that he could ever work directly for Vader, until he betrayed me.

And I killed him for it.

Or so I thought.

My shaking hand comes up and my knuckle brushes beneath my chin remembering how he'd do the same and tell me _'chin up princess.'_

Even when I had a chain around my throat.

A chain he helped put me in.

And so once again I harden my heart and keep my chin held high just like he taught me to do.

"Kyra?" Leia asks and my chair drags loudly across the floor as I push it back and find my footing. Just trying to keep my chin up. "Where are you going?"

"To kill him," I answer, swallowing the choked sound that threatens to escape me. "And put that armour back in the sand where it belongs."

They all shout objections as if they'd expected any other reaction and it's Luke who chases after me all the way to my ship. "Kyra, don't let your anger get the better of you."

I whip around. "Don't lecture me about anger! All my life I trained to be a Jedi, to be a guardian of peace. Then I was thrust into a war that still isn't finished. Boba Fett did Vader's bidding, I'm putting him in the ground!"

"Because he did Vader's bidding?" he questions and I know he can feel the wounds burning as hot as they did the day I was betrayed.

"You know why," I quake. They all know. They were there the day he betrayed me. The day he managed to convince me to walk into Cloud City unarmed, only to bring me straight to Vader. "And now I'm going to end this."

I continue walking towards my ship and hear him call out "Then what? You just chase old Imperial officers around the galaxy until you die? You keep shutting out the force?"

"Don't," I say harshly. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" he asks. "Tell you what you need to hear? What your father would tell you? Is that why you're blocking out the force, so he can't reach you?"

My voice is thick with tears. "So I can't see visions of everything and everyone I love burning. Ben, I see such dark things in his future. In all of our futures. Unless I can stop the Empire from rising again. I can't stop that by sitting in a temple and teaching children to lift rocks, or by hiding away like my father did. I am out there fighting every damn day to protect the peace. If that's not being a Jedi then I don't know what is."

He shuts his mouth and I can't meet his eye. When he dares to speak his voice is pleading. "Kyra. Please. Ever since the purge we've watched you go down hill. That was two years before the war ended. Seven years ago now. When you were with Lando we thought there was a chance but you left him to keep fighting a war you don't need to fight. You are going down a dark path, we are all worried about you."

Tears blur my vision. "Why do you think I've cut myself off from the force Luke?" I whisper hoarsely. "I don't trust myself. My father taught me what pain and anger does to people who use the force. Once I realised the pain wouldn't go away I made a choice."

The look in his eyes breaks my heart and I don't fight as he walks over and takes my hands in his. My brother in everything but blood.

"You will find your way back to the light. It's a path you need to find and travel of your own free will. The force is with you Kyra, you just need to find it."

It's so strange. Our fathers were Master and Padawan, brothers. Luke and I, in a way I was his master. He is my brother. Yet now he's the calming force while I'm spiralling.

"The Skywalker counselling the Kenobi. Who would have thought?"

His lip curls up into a small smile. "Who do you think I learned it from? I have faith in you, even if you don't."

And with that I embrace him tightly, trying to blink away the tears that slip down my cheeks.

"May the force be with you."

"And with you."

With one last look back at him I enter my ship knowing I'm not on the path back to the light, but to kill the past for good so I can finally be free of it.

Then I may just find my way.

But then again, I'm not just a Jedi.

War is my religion and this is the way.

And so I set course for Tatooine.

Where it all began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Din comes in at the start of next chapter


	3. two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her and Din meet.  
> Work Count: 5k

Tatooine.

The last time I set foot here was when we rescued Han and killed Jabba the Hutt. When I thought I killed Boba.

Just about everyone here I knew as a child is dead, like Luke's uncle and aunt, so I find my way into the city to find information.

I'm tempted to head straight for the bar but I know that there is one person I should see first.

Peli Motto at her hanger.

"I'll be damned," she says when she lays eyes on me. "Kyra Kenobi, how many years has it been?"

"Six," I answer having actually missed this place. It's not Mandalore but it was a second home. "A long time."

"What brings you here?" she asks as she takes a peak at my ship and cringes.

"Business," I answer, watching the droids as they start giving my ship a once over. "I was hoping we could chat?"

Her face falls. "Oh no that doesn't sound good."

I try to give her a reassuring smile but she knows me well enough to be hesitant to say the least. "Let's have a drink first."

~

And so I sit and listen as she tells me what's happened on Tattooine these past few years which is nothing good.

Over and over in my mind as she's speaking I replay those final moments with Boba Fett, slicing him down the middle with my saber, not enough to cut through the beskar but enough to throw him off balance, enough for him to fall into the sarlac pit. I can't fathom how he could have survived but it's Boba Fett.

Mandalorians are rare these days, and there's no doubt that if anyone here has seen a Mandalorian they'd remember. Even if that bastard wasn't a true Mandalorian.

"You're quiet," she notes and finally asks "What's this business that's brought you back here after all these years."

"I'm looking for a Mandalorian," I tell her and I notice how her eyes widen, the panic I feel through the force. "You've seen him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she tries to lie but I see through it. "If there was a Mandalorian here I'd know."

Before I can further the interrogation the sound of a ship landing interrupts us and she swears under her breath. "Stay here."

So I raise my hands in submission and wait until she's gone until I jump to my feet and with a hand on my blaster find my way to the door.

From there I watch as an old ship, a Razor Crest, lands and already I know it's not good news. A ship that's off the radars of both the Empire and the Republic. At least it's not Slave I.

The door opens and then I see him clear as day.

A Mandalorian.

"Mando," she says nervously. "I've got a lady here who's looking for you."

Except it's not him. It's not Boba.

But a true Mandalorian.

"Hello there," I say and she shakes her head at me, mouthing silent warnings.

He looks between me and her and immediately pulls his blaster on me. "You here for the kid?"

Out of instinct my blaster is now in my hand, aimed at his head although I know it won't pierce the beskar it will sure knock the wind out of him. For a moment I'm purely bewildered at the mention of a kid and hardly even glance to the blaster aimed at me knowing that sure as hell won't hurt me. I might not be wearing beskar but there are other ways to stop a laser.

Before either of us can make a move Peli Motto jumps between us with her hands raised. "Woah, woah! Blasters down! If you want to shoot each other take it outside!"

"We are outside," I comment and she points a stern finger at me.

"Watch it."

But the Mandalorian doesn't lower his blaster. "Are you here for the kid?"

Kid?

"No. I'm looking for a Mandalorian."

Slowly he lowers it. "So am I."

I raise a curious eyebrow as I take him in. "That's some shiny new beskar and maker knows how rare it is. How expensive it is."

He tilts his head at my and I watch his hand tighten around the blaster. "If you want it you will have to peel it off my dead body."

"Don't be so uncivilised," I say stepping closer while Peli steps away from us. "I'm just wondering how you could come to afford that. Let me take a guess, bounty hunter?"

While he doesn't deny it he still seems offended. "I am a Mandalorian."

"A Mandalorian bounty hunter," I comment and could almost laugh at the irony. "How convenient. Why don't we both put our blasters away and talk?"

"Yes," Peli says clapping her hands together. "What a brilliant idea! I'll take the kid inside while you two talk."

I watch as he gives a bag to her and it coos. Disturbing to say the least but it's not in distress.

He doesn't comment on it.

"Kyra Kenobi," I say extending my hand but he doesn't seem to recognise my name. Probably a good thing.

"You can just call me Mando," he says taking it and his grip is firm, like mine.

"Mandalorians are exceedingly rare these days," I say trying to identify him, I know he wasn't one of my soldiers during the war. He has a presence I definitely wouldn't forget.

"Which is why I'm trying to find one," he says and my eyes flicker down to the clan crest engraved on his armour, it definitely isn't one I recognise. "But why are you trying to find one?"

"Let's just say I have some unfinished business," I say and he tenses. "I'm guessing you're on your own."

"Aren't all Mandalorians?" he asks and he does make me curious indeed. So I decide to play along.

"So I hear."

He steps closer and it's clear he's used to his mere presence being enough to intimidate. But it's a little hard to be intimidated after mouthing off at the likes of Darth Vader.

"So why don't you tell me why you're trying to kill a Mandalorian?"

"Because he isn't a true Mandalorian," I say knowing how Mandalorians are when it comes to an outsider wearing beskar. "He's a bounty hunter."

"So am I."

"But you weren't Darth Vader's personal bounty hunter," I say and there is some recognition at that name at least. "Have you ever heard of Boba Fett?"

"No."

"He was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. Darth Vader hired him for the Empire's worst jobs. He had a thing for disintegration let's just say that. I'm here to kill him."

He looks me up and down. "You plan on killing the best bounty hunter in the galaxy?"

"I plan on finishing what I started," I say resting a hand on my saber. "Except this time I'll go for the neck."

He still seems doubtful but then again he doesn't know my name nor my reputation. I wear no armour, just a holster. I look like any civilian. Safer to travel that way when I'm still wanted by the Empire. They may no longer rule the galaxy but my head would still fetch a pretty price in the outer rims.

"You say he's not a true Mandalorian?"

"He wears beskar and has his own questionable code of honour but no, not truly."

"Could he know where other Mandalorians may be?"

"Perhaps," I answer and that seems to satisfy him.

"Then we'll find him."

His willingness surprises me and now our blasters are safely away Peli comes back out.

"Are you two done now? Good."

The top of the bag she holds slips down and a little green creature with pointy ears sticks it's head out and I stare at it in pure astonishment.

"What is that thing?" I ask realising afterwards I could have chosen my words more carefully.

"My kid," Mando says and for a moment I wonder what's beneath his armour before realising what he means.

"He's a foundling."

He cocks his head at me, surprised I know what a foundling is but he doesn't comment on that.

He watches me carefully as I step closer to the kid who reaches out for me. "Does he have a name?"

"No."

It's only as his little hand wraps around my finger that I realise why he looks so familiar.

"He's a little baby yoda," I murmur to myself.

"A baby what now?"

"Yoda," I repeat. "I knew one of his species once, but the kid's far cuter that's for sure."

"His species?" he inquires.

"Don't ask me what they were called because I have no idea, but they are strange I can tell you that much."

He lets out a short laugh. "That's an understatement."

The kid coos again and I can feel something within him, buried.

The force.

"Has he looked after you?" I ask the kid and his eyes light up as they look past me to Mando, and the feeling within the child tells me all I need to know.

Peli passes him over into my arms and he fascinates me. This child who has the force buried deep within him. Where it is safe. But beneath that I can feel such great pain.

"Where did you find him?" I ask Mando and I feel his hesitance.

"It's a long story but I've kept him safe."

And that's all I need to know before I pass him back over.

"So this bounty hunter," Peli begins. "Do you know where to find him."

"A place called Mos Pelgo," he answers. "But I can't find it on any maps."

"It's not on any maps," I say. "But I know where it is."

"Great," he says seeming actually relieved. "We'll need some speeders."

"Hold up," Peli says stopping us. "You were just pointing blasters at each other a minute ago and now you're going to work together?"

We look at each other and shrug.

"You'd be surprised how often that happens," he says and I know that goes for both of us.

"No, I'm not surprised one bit."

Mando and I look at each other with enough established trust or respect, just enough to know we won't kill each other.

"Now where are those speeders?"

~

And so after borrowing those speeders we find ourselves walking into Mos Pelgo.

The people here watch us strangely but it's not everyday they see a Mandalorian.

Well actually if Boba's here that might not be accurate.

"How dangerous is he?" Mando asks while the child remains hidden in the bag.

"Extremely," I answer. "But I can handle him."

And those last memories keep replaying in my mind, trying to figure out how he could have escaped.

"I want to see what he knows," he says and I know he only agreed because he's trying to track down other Mandalorians. For what who knows, chances are he's just searching for a covert. "You aren't killing him until then."

"Fine," I agree. "I want to have a word with him anyways, but it won't be pretty. You should have left the kid back at the hanger."

"He's seen worse."

We approach a bar and finally nerves begin to creep in. Six years.

He fell into the belly of a sarlacc, I don't even know how he's alive but whatever's left of him can't be pretty and I can only imagine the grudge he must have.

He goes to walk in and I grab his arm to stop him. "What?"

"Let me take the lead here."

"You?" he asks incredulously and I have to remind myself that he's only sounding like that because he's a Mandalorian and I look like a civilian. Even so it doesn't help.

"Yes me," I say curtly. "If he's in there then just follow my lead, no questions asked."

He mutters under his breath something that sounds like an agreement and I keep my hand on my saber as we walk in, but to my relief there's no sign of him.

Even with the helmet I can tell he's giving me a look and I shoot him a glare in return as we approach the bartender.

"We're looking for a Mandalorian."

"Well we don't get many visitors in these parts," the Bartender says. "Can you describe him?"

"Someone who looks like me," he says and I could almost laugh but it would be sad. A Mandalorian warrior would but not the children and the men and women still on Mandalore. Not the people who died during the war.

Not people like my mother.

"You mean the Marshall?" he asks and whatever relief I had vanishes.

"The Marshall wears Mandalorian armour?" Mando asks and he looks to the door.

"Well see for yourself."

Immediately I whip my saber out and go cold at the sight of the armour. Armour I haven't seen in years.

But just as I ignite my saber I freeze.

It's his armour, but it's not him.

"Woah there missy, mind putting whatever that is down?"

I don't lower it. "Where the hell did you get that armour?"

"We had an agreement, put that thing down," Mando warns and from the quake in his voice I can tell he's never seen one of these before.

"It's not him, so I doubt he'll be much help."

The man puts his hands up. "Alright you got me, I'm not a Mandalorian."

"Where did you get the armour?"

"Why don't you join me for a drink and we'll chat," he says removing his helmet and taking a seat but Mando and I don't move. "I've never met a real Mandalorian before but I've heard stories, I know you're good at killing and you're probably none to happy to see me wearing this hardwear. And you missy, what might you be?"

"Someone who is very good at killing," I answer knowing that most people have forgotten the Jedi, especially in the outer rims, or believe it only to be a myth of far away ancient sorcerers. "I'm here to make sure the man who that armour belonged to is still in the ground where I put him."

"From the way you pulled that thing on me I'm guessing that it was personal rather than business," he taunts with a wicked grin. "Come, drink. Looking at the two of you I figure only one of us is walking out of here." He looks past us to the child who is hiding. "But then I see the little guy over there and wonder if I picked you wrong. Well Mando here at least, you missy are a bit too trigger happy for my liking,"

"Call me missy again and I'll show you just how trigger happy I can be."

"Alright then, I suppose it's time for introductions," he says kicking back comfortably. "I'm Cobb Vanth, Marshall of Moss Pelgo."

"Kyra Kenobi," I say then smugly add. "General."

"I'll be damned," he whistles. "Well we've got ourselves a rebel here, what is a war hero doing all the way out here?"

Mando looks at me. "General?"

"Best one in the rebellion from what I've heard," Cobb says taking a closer look at me. "They never said the infamous General Kenobi was such a pretty little lady but well I suppose the rest of your reputation overshadowed that fact. I'm guessing that thing you're holding's the laser sword."

"Yes," I answer leaning over the table towards him and he leans forward looking quite smug until the blade comes to rest near his neck. "It cuts through almost anything." I trail my finger along the burn I left on the breastplate. "It can leave a pretty scar as I'm sure you could imagine but if you need a demonstration I'd be happy to oblige."

Whatever smirk he wore quickly disappears. "My apologies General, it seems we've gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Indeed," I agree as I stand upright and look at Mando. I can feel his eyes on my saber and doubt he'll be questioning me now.

"Where did you get the armour?" Din asks him again and the helmet on the tables leaves me with a sick feeling. It's been six years since I've laid eyes on it.

"Bought it off some Jawas," he says pouring three drinks, while Mando doesn't go to remove his helmet I accept one. Bought it off some Jawas?

"Hand it over," Mando demands and while I know how protective Mandalorian warriors are over beskar I'm surprised by the threat in his voice.

Cobb Vanth just laughs to himself. "Look pal, I'm sure you call the shots where you're from, but around here I'm the one who tells folks what to do."

Mando steps forward and once again my thumb rests over my sabers ignition. "Take it off, or I will."

His voice has me averting my gaze and the room suddenly feels a lot warmer. My eyes fall right on Boba's helmet and it's a harsh reminder not to fall for another damn bounty hunter in Mandalorian armour. Even if he does have this effect on me. Especially if he has this effect on me.

"We gonna do this in front of the kid?" Cobb asks gesturing to the kid on the floor who coos at us.

"He's seen worse," Mando says and something tells me that's more true than any of us could know.

Tension quickly builds within the room and Cobb starts to square up. "Right here?"

"Right here," Mando says with his hand on his blaster and a wicked smile spreads across my face as I come to his side, ready to put that armour back in the sand where it belongs.

That's until a deep rumbling disturbs us.

Cobb dashes out and after sharing a confused look Mando and I follow after him.

Something moves beneath the sands as the citizens of the town run for shelter. For a moment it's quiet and then my eyebrows shoot up as the creature emerges and swallows one of the livestock before disappearing once again.

Mando and I share a mutual look and I say what we're both thinking "Well shit that's not good."

"No, it's not," Cobb says and looks at us. "Maybe we can all work something out."

~

We walk through the town as Cobb Vanth tells us the story of the Krayte dragon.

"That creatures been terrorising these parts since long before Mos Pelgo was established," he tells us. "Thanks to this armour I've been able to protect this town from bandits and sand people, but the Krayte Dragon's too much for me to take on alone."

He looks at us expectantly. "Help me kill it and I'll give you the armour."

"Deal," Mando says before I can get a word in it then again there's nothing to say. It's Boba I wanted to find, not the armour. "I'll ride back to my ship and blow it out of the sand from the sky, use the bantha as bait."

"Not so simple," he says and I let out a heavy sigh.

"Never is."

"The ship passes above, it senses the vibrations, stays underground," he explains. "But I know where it lives."

"How far?" Mando asks while my eyes trail over Boba's armour. Wondering what came of the body that was once beneath it.

"Not far."

~

We ride to the cave.

We must be halfway there when I finally dare to ask "You said you got the armour from Jawas?"

And I listen as he tells us how the town fell alongside the Empire, how he trekked through the sands of Tatooine and was offered the armour by the Jawa's and used it to protect the settlement.

In my opinion he came to earn a Mandalorians armour however I can sense Mando disagrees. It's strange considering many Mandalorians would deem him worthy despite not being of Mandalore.

But that's not what concerns me, and I come to the conclusion that knowing doesn't leave me feeling any easier.

I still don't know what came of him but after all this time he has to be dead. That the Jawa's peeled it off whatever was left of his body.

We're riding through the canyons when Cobb slows down and raises a hand to stop us and we all hear it. The growling.

Immediately Mando and I jump off our bikes and use them as barricades as we ready our weapons. The instincts of a Mandalorian.

The growling's distant until it emerges. An ugly bastard that's for sure. Then a whole pack begins to approach.

I'm about to get my saber out when I hear it, a call. Cobb and I look back at Mando. "What do you think your doing."

Neither of us question him any further as he climbs out from behind his bike and approaches the pack, probably feeling a little too safe beneath that beskar.

And I'm gaping at him as he starts to pet one of them.

It's then the sand people appear and I swear under my breath. I've had my encounters with them before but nothing quite like this.

I go to ignite my saber when Cobb shakes his head at me and we both continue watching.

Mando speaks Tuskan to them and while mine's a little rusty I can still pick up on enough of it.

Cobb however is just confused. "Hey partner, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"They want to kill the Krayt dragon too," I answer for him and we share an uncertain look.

"Then that settles it."

~

Evening falls and we're at their camp.

"I spent a lot of my life on Tatooine while I was growing up, never thought I'd end up here that's for sure," I tell them. "But if they want to help we can't refuse."

"I don't know about that," Cobb comments offhandedly while Mando decides to be the pragmatic one here.

"We need to work out a truce with them to get this done."

"Alright so you two can speak sand people-"

"Tuskan," Mando corrects bluntly.

"Tuskan- right. So which one of you wants to negotiate?"

"I've never quite been one for politics. Let's just say I'm better at what I like to call aggressive negotiations."

But that would be a lie as well. I was raised to be a politician. But it's easier to say otherwise than to think of what could have been. Just as I'd told Leia before coming here

One day perhaps I might brave it but it's best to keep that part of my life hidden. It doesn't matter now anyways.

It's why I no longer go by Kryze. Just Kenobi.

"Well then I better do it," Mando says. "And no weapons, either of you."

Even so as we sit to negotiate and strategise I'm the one taking the lead, it's natural to me after all those years as a General. I don't even realise I'm doing it until it strikes me that Mando's hardly said a word, that he's just sat and agreed with what I've proposed. Only stepping in if there's something I've missed in translation.

And when I've finished they offer us a drink of something strange.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" Cobb asks.

"You drink it."

"It stinks."

I just roll my eyes at him and take the cup, taking it like a shot and getting it done with. Still, despite my best resolve I can't help but cough and splutter a bit.

"You're meant to sip it," Mando says and I can hear the amusement in his voice.

"You try it then, you'll be impressed." I offer it to him but he waves it off so I give it back to Cobb. "Drink."

He grimaces and Mando asks him. "Do you want their help."

"Not if I have to drink this."

A Tuskan Raider stands and begins shouting at him, I let Mando translate that one.

"They say your people steal their water, and now you insult them by not drinking it." The sand person keeps on shouting. "They know about Mos Pelgo, they know about how many Sand People you killed."

The look on his face is incredulous. "They raided our village. I defended the town!"

"Lower your voice," Mando says to him but he's not having it.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" he snaps throwing the drink on the ground.

"We have a job to do, try not to upset them," I advise knowing as well as he does what the Sand People are but also knowing it won't end well either way.

"You're agitating them," Mando warns but he jumps to his feet.

"These monsters can't be reasoned with," he spits and a Raider jumps up to fight. "Sit back down before I put a hole in ya!"

Just as I ignite my saber as a warning Mando goes all in activating the flame thrower on his armour and I've got to admit I'm impressed.

But then the raiders start screaming and running for cover. I'm bewildered until Mando says "Your laser sword, they don't like it."

"What?" I scoff in disbelief. "You bring out a whole flame thrower and it's my saber they don't like?"

But then he cocks his head at me as we overhear some of what they're saying. The legend of Skywalker and I choke a little. Unable to help but find it just a little bit hilarious despite how wrong it is. That of all people it has to be him.

My father definitely did not know about his Padawan attacking a village and slaughtering not just the men, but the women and the children to.

But maker does it explain a lot.

It would have had to have happened thirty years ago and still the Sand People are terrified.

"Sorry, sorry," I say putting it away. "I'm not like him, I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me I hated that guy. In fact I helped kill him so don't worry. Please, ah shit Mando can you translate."

He's trying not to laugh as he roughly translates what I'm saying and taking some liberties as he does.

Only once they see that my sabers gone they slowly come back and Mando asks "Do you want me to take it from here?"

"Please."

And so he intervenes.

"What are you telling them?" Cobb asks.

"The same thing I'm telling you. If we fight amongst ourselves the monster will kill us all."

Cobb sits back down and Mando asks "How do we kill it?"

"Together," I answer looking at everyone sitting around. Looking at him. "We kill it together."

~

It grows late into the night and while most drift off to sleep Mando and I stay awake beside the fire. The child sleeps beside him.

"He's peaceful."

"For once."

I smile knowing Leia's said the same about Ben. That he'd be a little angel when I watched him but any other time he was just like his father.

"How old is he?"

He just shakes his head as if he can't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "Fifty."

But I'm not surprised. "Yoda. He was nine hundred or so years old when he died."

"Nine hundred?" he exclaims and now I sound like the mad one. "Their species lives that long?"

"He was very old and well it showed. My friend Luke and I found him as he was an old friend of our fathers. As soon as we said our names he started wacking us with a stick, I swear the old thing gave up there and then as soon as we said our names. Skywalker and Kenobi. All he could remember was our fathers and that was enough for him. I think those two made him age an extra hundred," I laugh fondly and look at the child. "I thought he was the only one of the species but it seems not. I wonder now if he knew."

"Do you think he did?"

"Honestly I don't know," I answer quietly. "He had given up at that point, was a hermit living in a swamp. He literally just gave up and died as we were asking him questions. He was a bit dramatic really. This would have been six nearly seven years ago. I wish I could tell you more but I can't."

"It's alright," he says. "It's why I'm trying to find other Mandalorians, to see if they can lead me to his kind."

I'm confused. "Why would a Mandalorian be able to lead you to his kind?"

"It's just what I've been told," he says and I leave it there. "Until I can return him to his own kind he's my child."

The fondness in his voice is clear. "The child is attached to you, why don't you raise him?"

"He uh-" he begins trying to find the words. "He's a special kid."

I look over at him sleeping and know it's an understatement. I'm tempted to ask about just how special he is but I can feel how defensive he is when it comes to the child, especially considering he doesn't trust me. Not properly. Now's not the time.

"So tomorrow, we kill that dragon."

"Hopefully," he says. "Otherwise we'll end up in its stomach as well."

His humours dry but at least it's there and to be honest it's my type, blunt and honest.

"There are worse things."

"What's worse than being eaten alive?"

Again my mind drifts to Boba and his end but I quickly shut it out.

"I- yeah let's not get eaten alive."

We both laugh quietly and I look up at the stars as I did every night before I joined the war, and brace myself for tomorrow.

I haven't fought beside a Mandalorian since the purge. It seems so strange to find one in the desert of Tatooine. Whether it's luck or a twist of fate I don't know, but between him and the kid it's starting to feel more like fate.


	4. three.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She continues her fathers legacy; the high ground  
> Work count:4.1k

Dawn comes and we're riding the Bantha's to the cave in single file.

Eventually we come to sit atop a cliffside, watching as they lead one out as an offering.

"They say it lives in there," Mando translates. "They say it sleeps."

He holds up the binoculars and then gives them to me to look. "It lives in an abandoned sarlacc pit."

"It better be abandoned," I murmur. "Those things are nasty that's for sure."

"Lived on Tatooine my whole life," Cobb says. "There's no such thing as an abandoned sarlacc pit."

"There is if you eat the sarlacc," Mando deadpans and that sends a chill down my spine.

"You ever seen one?" I ask them and they shake their heads. "Old Jabba the Hutt, he liked to execute people using a sarlacc. Couple years back some of my friends ended up in that position, they got out but let's just say others didn't. It's not a pretty sight."

"Jabba the Hutt," Cobb repeats. "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

"Because my friend and I killed him," I tell him remembering every detail of that ordeal. Put in those bikini's and paraded around. Leia was Jabba's slave but I- oh no I was given to the very man who had betrayed me. He wrapped his cloak around my shoulders and once we were locked in a room together let me scream at him until my throat was raw and refused to fight with me but in the end that made no difference to me. Not when his betrayal was the reason I was there. "Took us prisoner, had us chained up mostly naked for his own pleasure but we gave it to him that's for sure. Strangled him with our chains."

"Good," he says while Mando shifts uncomfortably at hearing the tale. "Slimy bastard deserved it."

"The man who wore that armour," I elaborate. "He was the reason I was there, he betrayed me and so I struck him down and the sarlacc did the rest."

"And you came to make sure it wasn't him in this hardwear," he finishes. "I haven't seen a sarlacc up close but I know a bit about them. If he ended up in the stomach of one of those things he's dead. No if's or buts. He's dead."

The words finally bring me some comfort, some assurance. "Thank you."

Mando remains silent but I know he's listening, I can feel his mind turning over with all the words that are unsaid.

We keep watching the sarlacc pit, waiting as the Bantha ventures near the cave.

"They've studied its digestion cycle for generations," Mando explains. "They feed it to make it sleep longer."

I look at him incredulously. "How do you know so much about Tatooine."

"Been alive a while," he simply answers. "And the fact that they told me."

I narrow my eyes at him in annoyance at his dry humour but then find myself wondering how old he'd be. My gut tells me mid to late thirties. Younger than Cobb Vanth who's starting to grey but older than me.

Interesting for a man who seems to know so much but so little about his own kind. Any Mandalorian would know the weapon I carry is a lightsaber and who it belongs to. The traditional enemies of Mandalore. But he's only oblivious to it.

"Watch," he says bringing my attention back to the pit. "The dragon will appear."

The child whimpers as the Tuskan makes the call and begins running. Guessing what I'm about to see won't be pretty I bring my hand up to cover the child's eyes, something Mando notices.

And I was right. We watch as the dragon devours the raider instead of the beast.

The child wraps his little clawed hand around one of my fingers and Mando comments "They might be open to some new ideas."

~

And it's time for plan B.

Except plan B doesn't look too much better than plan A.

"That can't be to scale," Cobb says looking at the little model the raiders have made of bones.

"I think it might be," I say cringing at the thought.

"It can't be it's too big."

I just shake my head. "If that thing ate a sarlacc I'm willing to bet it's bigger."

He curses under his breath while Mando asks the Raiders, only for our fears to be confirmed.

"It's to scale."

"I've only seen it's head and neck, it's a whole lot bigger than I thought," Cobb says and I feel him beginning to panic, wanting to find a way out of this. "Might be time to rethink our arrangement."

"It's not the way," I comment out of habit, a saying that I've used since I was a child, and notice how Mando turns his helmet towards me. Suspicious. But he's not the only one. He wears a crest I've never seen and judging from how he reacted to the armour I can tell there is something strange about him.

I know many groups of warrior clans left Mandalore when my mother came into power, Bo Katan was even one of them, perhaps he is one as well.

The Tuskans drop more little rocks around the bones and Cobb relaxes. "That's more like it, but where are they getting the reinforcements."

"I volunteered your village," Mando says and we both turn at look at him in disbelief.

"What?" I exclaim. "They aren't soldiers!"

"Well then General it's your time to shine," he simply replies and I can't help but let out an exasperated laugh as Cobb is too stunned to even argue.

~

We return to the village and if he wants me to shine he'll be getting an entire damn solar system.

But first we need them to want to fight.

"This here is a Mandalorian," Cobb says gesturing to Mando. "And this lady here is Kyra Kenobi, the legend herself, the best General of the Rebellion."

They talk amongst themselves and I know there's some recognition.

"From their reputations I can tell you they are both extremely good at killing," he continues and whispers to me. "Show them the laser sword."

Knowing the effect is has on people I ignite it and listen to the sounds of awe.

He then looks at Mando. "Now he's got a problem. I've good a suit of salvaged armour and he follows a creed that says it's his to take."

They all sound offended on his behalf and Mando turns his head in annoyance.

"But I've got a problem too," Cobb elaborates. "The Krayte dragon's been peeling off our pack animals and sometimes taking our mining haul with it. It's just a matter of time before it grows tired of bantha's and goes after a couple of you townsfolk, or even so help us, the school."

All of them make sounds of horror at the thought and I know these types of people. They're hardworking, they would live and die for their home. It won't be hard to get them to take up arms.

"As much as I've grown fond of the armour, I'm even more fond of this town," Cobb says and he has my complete respect. "The Mandalorian and the General are willing to help us slay the leviathan in exchange for returning the armour to its ancestral owners."

It's ancestral owners. Whoever gave that armour to Boba's father Jango is long dead. The armour belongs buried in the sand but it's not worth picking a fight with Mando over it.

"Well that settles it," a man in the crowd says.

"There's more," Cobb continues. "We can't take on the Krayte alone, and the Sand People are willing to help."

Immediately they all begin protesting and I give Mando a look, knowing that the Sand People would be a deal breaker. But hopefully not completely.

And so I step in.

"I've spent much of my life on Tatooine," I tell the crowd. "I understand your grievances, trust me I do. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't taken out a couple of sand people myself. Because I definitely have. But for perhaps the first time ever they are willing to fully co-operate with us. The last time I was here on Tatooine I was nearly fed to a Sarlacc, I've seen first hand the sheer size and power of those things. But this Krayte dragon, it killed a Sarlacc. The size is beyond anything you can imagine. It is deadly and I can promise you that it will come for this settlement if it isn't killed. It's a miracle it hasn't already."

They begin to settle and Mando nods in encouragement while Cobb steps back to let me take control.

"My name is Kyra Kenobi, you don't know me but-"

"Kenobi," someone says slowly as they stand. "We know that name. They say he slayed a flying Krayt dragon mid-air."

The mention of my father catches me off guard and while I haven't heard that story I nod. "My father was Obi-wan Kenobi. He lived here for many years."

"We heard stories," another person says. "Of the hermit who was a great warrior. Who slayed many foe of the Tatooine."

A painful smile spreads across my face as I fiddle with the ring he gave me for my eighteenth birthday, the last I'd ever share with him, a ring that wears the symbol of the Jedi and rests beside that which bears the symbol of the rebellion. "He did, and he taught me everything he knew."

"Including how to kill the dragon?"

"No," I answer rather bluntly, wrapping my hand around my saber. "But I wield the same weapons he did."

I notice Cobb and Mando both watching me, Mando wouldn't know my father but something about the look in Cobb's eye tells me that he did.

"My father was a general in the clone wars, I was a general in the Rebellion," I tell them. "I've led all types of people and I've had to fight alongside some creatures which I didn't trust," I say thinking of the Ewoks. "The Sand People are brutal, I know many of you have likely come to blows with them. I sure have. But they are fighters and they are tough people. Most importantly they will keep their word, which is the ally you need. Their only condition is that they will be left the carcus and it's ichor of the dragon. They have even sworn to keep the peace until one of you breaks it. As someone who lived here for many years I know just how valuable that is. So whatever anger you have you must put aside for the common good which is this town."

"Damn right General," Cobb says, pushing me to keep going.

"Cobb Vanth has entrusted me to lead you, so will you take up arms to defend this town and allow me to do what I do best? Lead. Because in everyone of you I see the same fire I saw in the rebels I led into battle, the sheer determination to fight for what they love. So will you?"

And as I look into their eyes I know without a doubt what their answer is.

~

"That was a damn good speech General," Cobb Vanth says once the townspeople are preparing. "They respect you, they trust you. Don't let them down."

"I won't," I promise him. "And I'll ensure their safety is prioritised. There's no point saving a town if most of them are dead."

He leans in close, his eyes darting to Mando who is with the child and asks me. "Does Mando over there know you're a Jedi?"

The word sends a chill over me and I look him in the eye, testing him. "How do you know I'm a Jedi?"

"The clone wars," he answers. "I'm old enough to have some recollection of it. Unlike Mando I haven't been living under a rock either. I don't know much about the Jedi but I know they were warriors."

"They were," I say quietly. "Now most of them are dead."

"Them?"

"I haven't called myself a Jedi for a long time," I answer feeling that weight on my shoulders. That distance I've kept between myself and the force. "After all the things I've seen I've lost faith. I've lost my way."

The moment I laid eyes on the armour he wears I lost it.

It's then Mando walks over. "Am I interrupting something?"

I shake my head and compose myself. "Will the child be alright during the fight?"

"He'll be fine," he assures me and Cobb's called away, leaving just the two of us. "Your father killed a Krayt dragon?"

"So I've just learned," I answer unable to shake that sadness of hearing his name after so long. "He was a general, a fighter like I am. Better than I could ever be. If he could do it alone I have faith we can do it together."

He nods and is silent for a long moment. "You mentioned the clone wars?"

The question catches me off guard. "It finished around the time I was born, the Republic fought the Separatists. The Republic cloned soldiers, human soldiers, to fight the war while the Separatists used-"

"Battle droids," he says and I feel a sharp pain within him. "I remember."

The separatists attacked planets, destroyed them. Droids committed massacres. I don't need to ask to know his home was the victim of such atrocities.

"And the war only ended when the Emperor destroyed the Republic and the Separatists," I finish. "Destroyed the Jedi and eventually Mandalore."

His head turns to face me. "The Jedi?"

Just as I expected, he doesn't know them. Even during this short time I've been with him it's apparent he has been living under a rock. Or something more sinister.

"The clones slaughtered them. The Masters, the Knights, the Padawans, and the Younglings. All slaughtered."

"All of them?" he asks and something in his voice catches my attention. Something beyond mere curiosity.

"Almost all of them."

"Almost?"

While I can't see his face I can feel the emotions within him. Just the slightest desperation.

"Why are you so curious?"

"I have my reasons," he answers and I step closer to him, wondering just how far I can see through his armour.

"The child." He goes utterly still and I feel the fear in him. The love. "You know what the child is."

He moves closer until his body is almost pressed against mine, meaning to intimidate me, but if only he knew. "Who are you?"

The corner of my lip turns up. "I could ask you the same. After we kill that thing we can both find the answers we're looking for."

He's hesitant, but he gives in. "Alright. So General, what's the plan?"

"I'll have the townspeople sorted so you don't need to concern yourself with them," I assure him. "But I see that jet pack you have on, if I need someone to get up close to that thing can I trust you to do it?"

He nods. "I can do that."

"I've gone up against legions of Stormtroopers, taken down AT-AT's, but nothing like this," I tell him. "But if my father killed one of those things I have faith that all of us can do it together."

"And where will I be?"

"With me," I answer knowing how quickly everything could change. "It's almost a certainty whatever plan we have will fail and we'll have to improvise."

He scoffs "And you say you're the best general in the Rebellion?"

"I don't, everyone else does," I say knowing my reputation. "And a good general accounts for every variable, anticipates every failure. Prepares for it."

"And if the plan fails?"

From the way he speaks he's seen quite a bit of combat but I have the feeling he's never been an enlisted soldier before.

"As a General I always gave my best commanders and soldiers permission to improvise and do as they see fit," I tell him knowing he likely isn't used to following orders and now isn't the time to start. He is a Mandalorian and we know to trust our instincts and capabilities. "You'll do the same."

I can feel the tension within him begin to uncoil, but it's the respect in his voice that catches me off guard. "Thank you General."

Suddenly the closeness between us physically becomes apparent and a different type of tension lingers between us, only to be interrupted by the Sand People arriving.

"It's time."

~

While the dragon sleeps we get to work.

I entrust Mando with overseeing what he thinks should be done and get to work on equipping and organising the townspeople, as well as distributing the impressive amount of explosives.

"The Tuskans say the belly is the only weak spot," I hear Mando explaining to Cobb.

"So we hit it from below and hopefully blow that big bastard sky high," I finish with an armful of explosives. "And if we don't then plan B."

"Aren't we already on plan B?"

"Plan C then," I say taking my saber in my hand while trying not to drop the explosives. "It cuts through almost anything. A dragon's no exception. I doubt the sand people would complain if it was already a bit carved up for them."

"And how would you plan on getting close enough to carve it up?" Cobb asks and I look at Mando's jetpack. "You aren't being serious."

"I am serious," I say knowing he thinks I'm mad. "If all else fails get me up high and I'll do the rest."

And I leave them there to continue setting up the explosives. The first line of defence.

I walk past the people armed and ready to fight. Ensuring everything is in order. Then inspect the sand people with their long ranged weapons. The second line of defence.

Eventually once again I come to stand beside Mando and Cobb. The three of us the third line of defence. And the last.

"Do you think we can do it," Cobb asks us as we watch the Sand People edge towards the cave.

"I've faced worse odds than this," Mando says.

"And so have I," I say with a small smile, finally feeling back in my element. "And I've still got some tricks up my sleeve."

~

And we wake the beast.

"Fire!" I yell and the Tuskans fire their spears into the beast but I know it sure won't be that easy.

"Dank Farrick it's going back in," Mando mutters as Tuskans are dragged by their ropes. "It's retreating."

Cobb holds the detonator. "Should we-"

"No," I say quickly. "Not yet. Wait for my signal."

I rush forward amongst the people as the dragon reappears. "Give it everything you've got! We need to get it out of that cave!"

I pull out my own blaster and begin firing on the deadliest setting, knowing I need to provoke it.

Then I feel a tingling and I can feel it's life force. I can truly feel it.

And amongst the chaos I close my eyes and using the force I reach out, grasping whatever I can find and twist it, crushing it until the dragon lets out a pained scream.

It's not enough to kill it but it's certainly enough to piss it off.

"Fall back!" I yell as it charges forward. "Fire from a distance!"

And then once they're safely back I ignite my saber. The light and vibrations from it attracting the dragon. And with one last twist through the force it strikes.

"Now!" I yell as it throws itself forward and the explosives detonate.

A cloud of smoke rises from it and I'm coughing as I order them to stay back, but I can feel it. It's still alive.

"I don't think it's dead," Mando says as he comes to stand beside me.

"It's not."

And just then as the smoke dissipates it breaks through the top of the mountain, roaring.

"Everybody back!" I order watching them make it behind the lines I set up. Even the Sand People start running, and just in time as it spits out burning acid, thankfully just missing the fleeing troops. "Stay back!"

My head whips around to Mando. "Time to improvise."

"Let's get up there!" Cobb says and he's already jetpacking up to the mountain when Mando pulls me roughly against him by the waist.

"Hold on."

And I sure as hell hold on tight as we take off with his arm around my waist and mine wrapped tight around his neck.

Air rushes past me and it's a feeling I've missed. Of being so high. Of being this close to another person.

"What's the plan?"

My free hand rummages for my saber as well ascend to the top of the mountain. "Get me above its head and I'll do the rest."

"If you jump-"

"I'll have the high ground," I finish as we come to hover above the dragon. "Here goes nothing."

And I jump. Igniting my saber mid air and thrusting it deep within the skull of the dragon causing it to roar and rear its hard back leaving me holding on for dear life, using my saber as an anchor which of course doesn't work too well for me as it cuts through the bone.

"Thick headed bastard!" I curse as I try to push it deeper but find I've gone as far as the hilt will let me, and it's not enough. So I angle it in to sear through the skull, slowly cutting it open only for it to throw itself back into the mountain.

The force slams me against the rock wall and my barely conscious state is only semi aware of me rolling down the mountain side.

It's not until I'm shaken awake to see a Mandalorian looking down at me that I come to. "Is it dead yet?"

"No, but it's close."

My head falls back against the ground as I curse, searching for my saber and thankfully finding it nearby.

He wraps his hand around mine and pulls me to my feet and holds me to his side ready to jet pack off but we pause, unable to see the dragon.

Until it bursts out of the sand.

Then with its bloodied head reared back and mouth wide open I see him turn his head to the explosives on the ground, the same idea dawning on us both.

"Get me up on it again, I'll make sure it's distracted. You take care of blowing it up."

"Deal," he says as I wrap my arms around his neck and he holds me tight. "Just buy me time to get the explosives and keep it away from the people."

"I can do that."

"Hold on," he says and once again we take off.

From above the dragon I can see the injuries I've done to it and Mando was right, he's close. Just a little more and he'll be dead. But for now the pains put it into berserker mode.

"Are you sure?" Mando hesitates mid-air.

"Definitely not," I answer. "Wish me luck."

And again I drop down onto it but this time with greater priorities than trying to kill it. I need to keep it away from the people and buy Mando time.

And so I go straight for the eyes, blinding it. Then as it breaks through the opening in the skull I thrust it deeper in, and I feel it scrape the brain.

As expected it tears its head back, mouth wide open and I hear the jet pack, out of the corner of my eye see him throw explosives right down its open throat.

"Jump!" he yells and he doesn't have to tell me twice as I shakily stand and throw myself off, trusting him to catch me, just as the beast goes to throw me off, screaming in agony.

My body collides with his, my arm holding the saber coming to wrap around his neck as his arm holds me tight around the waist and I know I'm secure.

He doesn't need me to give him any orders as we hover there in mid air and he ignites the explosives. Our feet hit the ground just as the dragon does, and finally it's dead.

Mando and I look at each other and I don't need to see his face to know what he feels as an exasperated smile spreads across my face.

"It's dead."


	5. four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are revealed.  
> Word count: 4.9k

The Sand People don't waste any time carving it up, Mando even grabs a piece to take back to the hanger, however the child might just get into it before then. And I remember my promise to Mando, that when we killed that thing we'd both get the answers we sought.

Before either of us can say anything Cobb Vanth walks over with the armour in his hands.

"Well General, it is a rare thing a person who lives up to their reputation," he says to me as he hands the armour to Mando. "This is well earned."

"It was a pleasure," Mando says shaking his hand.

"I hope our paths cross again," he says to us.

"So do I," I say looking around at this place that was once my second home. "I have a feeling I'll be coming back here."

"Where are you off to now?" he asks and Mando and I look at each other, unspoken words hovering between us.

"We have some business to take care of," he says and we both see the look on Cobb's face. "Not that type of business."

While I definitely wouldn't be opposed I laugh to break the tension. "I'll see you around."

He nods respectfully to us both and goes to leave before suddenly stopping and pointing to the helmet. "And you make sure you tell your people I wasn't the one who broke that."

"Oh that's been broken for a long time," I say looking at the dent, and then the Sand People begin cheering as they find a pearl within the dragon.

"I'll let you two be on your way," Cobb says before returning to his people.

For a moment Mando and I look around at what we've done. "He's right, it is a rare thing to meet someone who lives up to their reputation."

"You didn't even know my name until he told you who I was," I tease lightheartedly and I can hear the slight laugh through the modulator.

"Maybe not, but I can imagine. They don't call you the best soldier of the Rebellion for nothing. What you did- that's true courage."

"Madness," I correct knowing what my father would call it and smile to myself knowing he'd do the exact same. "But it worked. And I couldn't have done it without you. Literally, I'd need a jet pack."

I can feel the small smile he hides beneath his helmet. "Glad to be of service then."

"Dare I say we make a good team," I say, testing that armour of his. That cold, hard exterior. "I can't remember the last time I fought beside a Mandalorian."

But I can, and they were slaughtered before my eyes.

"You've fought beside a Mandalorian?"

"Many of them," I answer and it takes all the control I have to stop my voice from shaking. "All dead now at the hands of the Empire."

He turns his body to face mine and I can feel his eyes burning into mine.

"Who are you?"

A smile, mysterious smile comes to my face. While that armour may conceal his identity the very mystery and legend surrounding mine is all I need. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

He leans closer to me with his arms crossed over his chest. "We made a deal. We kill that thing and you tell me what you know."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't as curious as he is. It's been years since I've seen a Mandalorian, even if he may not be the kind I'm accustomed to I don't want him to disappear just yet.

"It's getting late and it's a long drive to the hanger. I have a house between here and the city, we can spend the night there," I say looking at the child who's fascinated by the meat and no doubt hungry. "There's a spare room for you and the child, I'm sure he'd appreciate some rest, as would you."

And I can feel that momentary hesitance, the instinct not to trust. But then he looks at the kid who coos at him and back to me. "He would. Thank you."

A man of few words, but he doesn't need them. Not when I can feel all the words unsaid.

While no weapon can make its way through that armour, beskar is no match for the force.

I would know.

"And then we can find the answers we've been looking for."

~

It's dusk when we arrive.

We dismount our speeders and Mando takes the sleeping child in his arms.

Six years.

Six years since I've dared step through that door.

The second I do I can hear the moments lost in time.

_"We did it!" Lando laughed, pouring drinks as Leia and I walked out of my room, rid of our slave bikini's and finally comfortable._

_"Welcome home Han," Leia smiled hugging a still partially blind Han while I accepted a drink._

_Lando stood by my side, a silent comfort. One drink became two and then three as Luke and Leia filled Han in on all that had happened on the past months while he was frozen in carbonate._

_After a little while Lando looked at me and asked quietly. "Are you alright?"_

_He knew I wasn't, and he knew I_ _hadn't and wouldn't_ _be for a long time. He knew I hadn't been since the first day we met on Cloud City, the day Boba betrayed me._

_"I'll be okay," I told him anyways. "It's over now. He's dead and Han's free. Everything's how it should be."_

_"That's right," he said with a comforting hand on my shoulder and I reached for his hand, needed to hold onto something. "It's over now. Han's back and you and Leia are free. I know you don't want to talk about what happened and that's alright. Just don't think you can't."_

_"Thank you Lando," I say squeezing his hand and finding comfort in it, in him. "He's dead and now I'm finally free. I should be happy."_

_Even so I felt the nagging suspicion through the force, a feeling I'd later confide to Luke once the celebrations had died down._

_But in that moment it was a time of pure joy. A joy which we found in each other._

_"Look at us," Luke said looking around at the six of us. Him, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando and me. "We're home."_

We descend down the stairs into my home which has remained untouched for so long. A time capsule of a war torn time which somehow seems like a happier one.

"It's- it's modest," he comments and I know what he means. It's elaborate even for a wealthy Tatooine. A home fit for a Duchess.

"If my father had his way it would have been a tiny little hole with enough room for a bed and books but my mother wouldn't have it," I remember fondly. "She told him if she had to stay here then it would be fit for well- for us. His two girls."

"Do they still live here?" he asks and I look around at the house which has never felt so empty.

"They died during the war."

Died. A peaceful word.

Not tortured for the location of my father, succumbing to her wounds before either of us could save her. Not struck down by his apprentice in front of his screaming daughter.

"Sorry to hear that," he says politely and I shake the thoughts from my head, knowing if I hold onto them all I'll ever be is miserable. "Where would you like me to put the armor?"

I look at what he carries and my eyes settle on the chipped green beskar.

Just as Lando told me the last time I stood here all those years ago, it's over.

Except now it truly is.

All this pain I've harboured for so many years, the uncertainty, it's gone. He's really dead.

Part of me wants to tell him to leave the armour out in the sand where it belongs but I know I can't. I can almost hear my fathers voice telling me to let go of my anger or I'll only continue to suffer.

And so I take a deep breath and exhale. Finally, after all these years letting go.

"Just put it wherever, it doesn't bother me."

He sets the armour down near the door. "Thank you again for having us here. I'll make sure the child behaves."

"It's alright," I assure him with a little smile knowing I wouldn't have dared return if I was on my own. "The child needs to rest and it's past time I came back here. It's a big house, needs people to fill it."

I take the child from him and carry him over to the blanket covered sofa where he'll be comfortable.

"Why don't we all eat then put the child to sleep," I suggest and look at him. "Then we can talk."

He walks over slowly and touches my face with gloved fingers, for a moment I'm stunned beneath his touch, then his fingers trail to my temple and I flinch at the burning sensation. "You need to put some bacta on that."

His fingers fall away and I remember being thrown against the rock face, there's no doubt I'm a bit battered and bruised from it but I hadn't realised I'd suffered a head wound.

"I've got some bacta somewhere, please excuse me," I say knowing I'm absolutely filthy. "There's some preserved food in the cupboard, surely there'll be something for the child to eat."

And I find my way through the house to the room that was reserved for my training, which also had bacta ointment stored away amongst other medical supplies considering injuries were a common occurance.

But as soon as I step inside I seize up and feel that tingling at the back of my mind, the force finding its way through the barriers I've built over the years.

_"Brilliant," my father praised as I deflected lasers shots with my saber,_ _only a child_ _. "Absolutely brilliant."_

_"She's your daughter Obi," my mother chuckled from where she watched. "Of course she is."_

_He knelt down in front of me and took my little hands in his, his eyes filled with pure adoration. "You've been practicing."_

_"Aunty Bo's helped me," I told him and he smiled and kissed the top of my strawberry blonde head._

_"You're becoming quite the little warrior," he smiled then looked up at my mother. "Not quite what the pacifist planned?"_

_She laughed. "I was the one who decided to let you and my sister teach her. She takes after the two of you far more than me."_

_"Oh no," he said proudly. "You may be a pacifist my dear but I don't think I've ever met someone willing to quite fight as hard for it."_

_"Times have changed my dear Obi-wan," she said looking at the saber in my hand with sadness. "You've often told me I have the delusions of a dreamer, but I never dreamed my daughter would grow to be a soldier."_

_"Because there is no other choice," he said, suddenly serious and I looked at my father with wide eyes, at the man I'd always love more than any other. He sighed heavily as he pulled me close_ _in_ _his arms. "Don't you worry my darling, you won't need to use that saber for a long time yet. Not if I can help it."_

_"Is that why I'm being brought here?" I asked him remembering the haste in which my mother packed me up and shipped me to Tatooine. "Because of the Stormtroopers in the city?"_

_My mother gave him a warning glance to be careful with his words. "Darling, the Stormtroopers are staying in Mandalore until your mother can come to an agreement with them._ _It's just a disagreement over mining beskar, nothing to worry about. Even so, she_ _doesn't want any harm to come to you_ _which is why she's brought you here, just in case. It's the reason I've been here for so long, but I promise that soon we'll all be back on Mandalore." He squeezed my little hands and gave me a soothing smile. "Until then it's just you and me for a little while. Now why don't you show me what else you've been practicing?"_

I have to blink away tears at the memories that haunt me, moments I can never get back.

A pain that will never truly go away, but after all these years I know to hold those memories to dear to my heart.

And so I grab the bacta ointment and find my way to the bathroom to use the refresher.

When I look in the mirror I'm a shadow of the girl who'd run laughing through the halls of this house. Her mother's delicate features stare back at me but they're covered in dirt and grime and blood, my battered body anything but delicate. Her sweet strawberry blond hair darkened to a colour just lighter than what my fathers was, those innocent blue eyes filled with a ghost of who I once was before the war.

Before I lost Mandalore.

I tear myself away from those thoughts knowing not to dwell and wash the grime and sand from my body, cleaning the wounds and treating them with bacta until I'm finally clean.

When I reappear I'm dressed in comfortable clothes, loose sand coloured pants that sweep the floor and a cropped top to match.

Mando looks up at me and suddenly I'm warm under his gaze despite his face being hidden.

"You- look clean."

I can't help but laugh a little, yet I have to turn my face away to hide the pinkness in my cheeks and my eyes fall on the child who's sitting on the sofa where I left him quite content with snacks.

"He's a happy child," I note. "I have a cot he can sleep in, I'm guessing he'll want to be near you?"

"He'll only sleep if he is," he sighs sounding a little annoyed but I can tell he's endeared by it.

"I'm guessing you didn't quite adopt him willingly?" I chuckle still unable to imagine how he ended up adopting this child.

"You could say that," he says looking at the child, even with the mask I know it's in the way only a father could. "But we're a clan of two now, for now at least."

"For now," I repeat feeling the pain in him at those words and clear my throat as I head to the pantry cupboard. "Why don't you take that helmet off and we can eat."

"I can't."

I look back at him wondering if he's ill. "Are you alright?"

"A Mandalorian can't remove their helmet in front of another, it's against the creed."

All I can do is to try not to laugh at the ridiculousness of his words but the noise that comes out isn't much better. "What?"

He ignores my tone and calmly explains as if he's done it a thousand times before. "Due to my creed a Mandalorian cannot remove their helmet." But then suspicion creeps into his voice. "Considering you've fought alongside Mandalorians I thought you'd know that. It's our religion."

"Weapons are our religion," I laugh in disbelief at what he's saying, unsure if this is some strange joke. "Not that nonsense."

He almost does a double take. "Our?"

Shit.

I clear my throat knowing I need to be careful with my words. Not all Mandalorians saw my mother as the rightful ruler, and even fewer recognised me as their's.

"I was born and raised for much of my life on Mandalore until the purge."

Those words take him by surprise but he seems almost confused, as if he can't comprehend them.

"Mandalore isn't a race, it's a creed."

I squint at him trying to read his face but he is deadly serious in his belief. "Mandalore is a place, it is a people. Some clans may have their creeds and traditions but your's is certainly not that of a true Mandalorian."

I quickly regret those last words as he comes to his feet. "What would you know about being a true Mandalorian?"

I let out a dangerous laugh. "I was born on Mandalore. I fought in the purge. I commanded Mandalorians in battle and watched them die. I watched Mandalore fall. Don't you dare lecture me."

"If the Mandalorians you lead were killed then why are you still alive?"

The accusation of cowardice in his voice rings loud and clear and if he wasn't wearing that helmet he'd sure wish he was.

Something inside of me snaps and my bodies almost pressed against his as I half yell between gritted teeth. "Because Vader wanted me alive!"

Now he seems simply bewildered. "Why?"

"So he could torture me!"

He falls silent and I wish I could forget.

But I can't.

_"Duchess Kryze, we meet again_ _," Vader said watching me with interest. "_ _You put up a good fight, Obi-wan would have been proud."_

_"I go by General Kenobi now," I told him, shaking with anger like I'd never known. "And you slaughtered my people."_

_"People you abandoned and left in Bo-Katan's hands," he chastised. "Now they're dead. Any survivors will be hunted down and eliminated."_

_"Like the Jedi?" I taunted. "And yet we live. I live. Ahsoka lives."_

_He slammed my head back against the interrogation chair. "Ahsoka?"_

_"Your padawan," I said with a half mad grin, determined to get under his skin even if it killed me. "You couldn't kill her and she'll never give you the chance_ _to again."_

_"Where is she?"_ _He demanded. "You will tell me now!"_

_"I don't know," I answered truthfully and he knew it. "She isn't stupid enough to let that information get into your hands, but then again how many years did my father hide from you on the_ _very_ _sands you were born?"_

_My throat tightened but I wasn't going to go out quietly. "How many years did he hide your son from you?"_

_And my throat tightened so hard I thought my windpipe would be crushed_ _._ _"Where is my son_ _?_ _Where is Luke?"_

_"I am my fathers daughter,_ _" I croaked defiantly looking into the darkness but never feeling it tempt me. "And_ _I would die before betraying my friends._ _Before betraying the Rebellion."_

_His own hand wrapped around my throat but I did not waver_ _. "We_ _shall_ _see."_

But I never caved.

Not until I escaped that ship and screamed until my throat was raw on the ground of bloodied and ruined city I was meant to protect.

"I barely escaped with my life, which was more than I could say for my people and I've spent every moment since I joined the Rebellion ten years ago fighting the Empire for Mandalore!" I yell, so many years of buried emotions surfacing. "And what have you done? You're a damn bounty hunter, not a true Mandalorian."

"You don't even wear armour-"

"Then why don't I go put it on and we settle this the Mandalorian way," I challenge viciously knowing my own traditions and putting a hand over the beskar covering his chest meaning to push him away. "If you even know what that is-"

I'm cut off by a crushing pressure to my windpipe as the muscles of my throat contract and I can't breathe. Darkness fills my senses until I hear him yelling out and catching me as my knees go weak.

"Kyra?" he panics, checking me over while I regain my consciousness, clutching whatever fabric I can to ground myself as air forces it's way into my lungs. "Are you alright?"

With my fingers buried in the fabric of the cape that wraps around his shoulders I turn my head to see the child watching and I finally realise what he truly is.

"The child-"

"He's innocent, he didn't want to hurt you," Mando quickly says, pleading. "Don't hurt him."

"I'm not," I croak as he helps me sit upright, his knee propping my back up and a hand cradling the back my head. "I only ever knew one being who could do that. Who was that powerful."

"Who."

Tears burn in my eyes but I don't dare let them spill. "Vader."

And as I look at that child I feel what my father must have inevitably felt when he looked at his apprentice.

Power beyond reason, beyond control.

Oh maker.

"No, he's not-"

"Vader did the same to me," I manage to tell him, my voice coming out raw. "I've known Jedi, but nothing like this."

My eyes focus on Mando and I can feel myself trembling in his arms with good reason. "That child- he's too powerful."

"Which is why I need to take him back to his kind," he says and finally I realise. He is searching for the Jedi. "Where can I find them?"

"There are only a handful of us left," I tell him and feel him still.

"Us?"

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me," I confess to him. "Or at least I was, a long time ago."

"You- you're a Jedi?"

The child makes a sound and I look over to it, trembling. I feel Mando's gloved hand on my back, rubbing it in a subconscious reaction to calm me, as if he doesn't even realise he's doing it until I look at him and he pauses.

"Kyra?"

I shake my head and try to stand but he has to help me to my feet and I look at the child with a fear I haven't felt since Ben was born.

"That child should not have that power," I croak, Ben may be powerful but at least he hasn't taken after his grandfather with choking people yet. "You two can stay the night but then you have to leave."

I go to walk out but Mando grabs my wrist, his voice low and pleading. "Please, we need your help. I was told-"

"To return him to the Jedi, I know," I snap and shake my head. "Well you have, and now I'm saying no."

I tear my wrist free and can't bear to look at the child as I walk away but before I can leave his words stop me.

"I've never known a Mandalorian to run away."

I look back at him, that heaviness that's crushed me since the purge finally too much to carry. The force, too strong to fight anymore.

"I'm not a Mandalorian. I'm not a Jedi. I was born those things, but I lost the way a long time ago."

And with that I turn my back on the creed, on the code, on every damn thing I once stood for and leave.

~

It's late into the night when I'm a trembling mess in the room I once trained. Where my father praised me as his little warrior. So full of hope.

Hope that was misplaced.

"I'm sorry dad," I whisper into the darkness as I place my saber on the floor. "I can't- I can't do this. He's too powerful, I can't do what you did."

Then in the darkness a voice whispers back "You can."

I whip around and I see him standing there. His ghost.

Tears blur my vision. "Dad?"

"Hello there darling," he says reaching out to wipe away the tears that wet my cheeks and while his touch is ghostly it's there, I can feel it.

"It's been so long," I whisper in disbelief. "Where have you been?"

"I've tried to reach you," he tells me. "But you've distanced yourself from the force."

My voice is thick with tears. "You don't understand-"

"I do," he says. "I understand completely. I understand the pain, the suffering. I remember the fall of the Jedi Order and the Republic as clearly as you remember the fall of Mandalore, the Great Purge. For so long it haunted me, until the day Vader struck me down. I had lost faith, for so long it was lost until Satine came to me with you in her arms. Just a babe, your birth hidden from everyone including me to protect you from Vader until she knew it was safe for your existence to be known. I had lost my way until the love of my life and my daughter came to me. You two saved me from my suffering."

"How to I make it stop?" I quake. "I can't bear it. For years I've distanced myself so I don't fall to the darkness."

"Then you are stronger than you could ever know," he tells me with a pride I haven't heard in ten years now. "Only the weak cave to the darkness, and only the strongest can truly resist it. While you have faltered you have remained stronger than most."

A tearful smile comes to my face as I look at my father. "I am your daughter after all."

"You are," he says proudly. "And that is why you can do this, why you must protect the child."

"He's too powerful-"

"I once thought the same about Anakin," he tells me. "I did not want to take him as my Padawan but I knew I had to. I was little more than a Jedi Knight when I did so but you my darling are a master."

I laugh at the word. "I am anything but a master."

"Who completed Luke's training?" he asks me. "Who fought as a Jedi and resisted the darkness in a way no other could? Who fought when all others could not? You were not born with immense strength like Luke and the Child, everything you possess you achieved through discipline and training, just as I did. You may just be the last true Jedi Master there is. Who else is there to train the child?"

"Luke," I answer. "Luke wants to rebuild the order."

"Luke is becoming a wise Jedi but this responsibility falls on you," he says and I rub my still aching throat. "You do not need to be afraid, he is a child who does not yet know right from wrong. While my fear for Anakin was founded at the beginning he was just a child, a child who I failed. And I swore to never make that mistake again."

"And you didn't," I say quickly. "You never failed me."

"You are the thing I am most proud of," he tells me. "But when it came time to train you I was hesitant. It was your mother of all people who had to convince me. And that fear faded with time. Then came Luke. Do you think he never frightened me? That I feared someday he would grow to be Vader? Of course I did. But as the years went by I knew he was destined for a better path and that with the right guidance he would not stray. Guidance he received not just from me, but you. Guidance he has tried to give you these last years."

"But I have strayed," I confess to him. "I'm more of a soldier now than a Jedi or a Mandalorian."

"And yet one of each have crossed your path," he says and asks me. "Do you not think that was fate? Kyra, my darling, protect the child and you will find the way once again. Search your feelings, you know it to be true."

And with those words he's gone but the force still lingers here.

And I know what I must do.

"

My tears have dried by the time I go to find them.

I know what he thinks of me, that I'm a coward. That in the furthest thing from a Mandalorian he could imagine.

These past years that has been true. Ever since the war ended I've run, I ran from Lando, from my friends, from any place I could ever call home.

I did it all to keep fighting but in truth I was terrified of what I would become if I didn't. That if I stopped for even a moment I'd fall into that pit of despair.

I've run from everything I've ever known out of fear. Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, even Chewie. They all knew it.

Except Mando has been the only person to ever dare confront me.

And perhaps that is just what I need, a push. To face what I've run from.

It's then I wonder if it wasn't just the child who was fated to come into my life, but him as well.

And my fathers words ring true when I search my feelings. That with him and the child I may just find my way.

As I knock on the door I prepare for another fight, but I can't forget how he held me when the child tried to defend him by hurting me. He isn't a heartless man, even if he tries to pretend he is.

"Mando?" I call through the door but there's no reply. "I'm sorry, but I know what I need to do."

When he doesn't reply I go ahead and open it but he's not there. And neither is the child.

"Shit," I curse as I run towards the door and find Boba's armour missing. I duck outside, running up those stairs only to find his speeder gone.

Of course he left.

I might as well have pushed him out the door the moment I turned my back on him and the child.

I know what I need to do.

It's time to confront my past, it's the only way I can ever move forward.

It was the force that brought a Mandalorian and a Jedi to me.

Now it's my turn to stop running and find them.


	6. five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She makes a promise to Mando and the Child.  
> Word count: 4.8k

Dawn comes and and the trail left by the speeder has long been blown away. And so I trust in what's always guided me, something I haven't listened to anywhere near enough.

The force.

And I can feel it. I can feel the child.

But as I grow nearer I sense danger and slow, dismounting my speeder and sneaking through the canyon until I spot the ruins of Mando's speeder and hear the fighting.

I come through the clearing only to see a bandit with a knife to the child's throat.

"Wait!" Mando yells with raised hands. "Don't hurt the child. If you put one mark on him there's no place you will be able to hide from me."

My saber ignites and he whips around to look at me.

"You will put the child down," I say calmly, looking at the bandit knowing it's not a suggestion, but a mind trick. "You will put the child down and put your hands above your head."

"What are you doing?" Mando hisses, unaware of what I'm doing until much to his shock the bandit slowly puts the child back on the ground, who immediately runs as fast as his little legs can carry him to Mando.

Mando scoops up the child and holds him close while the bandit stays there with his hands raised as I approach him. "Now drop the knife."

Mando stares at me in pure disbelief as the bandit drops his knife and without hesitation I cut him down with my saber.

The child lets out a little shriek, strange considering he'd be used to far worse violence than that done with a saber, even so there's something strange to his reaction considering the violence he's seen.

"How- how did you do that?" Din stammers as he protectively clutches the child to his chest.

"I'm a Jedi," I answer stepping closer and looking at the child. His big black eyes staring right into mine. "And I've decided to take you up on your request."

"You'll train him?" Din asks, suddenly panicking. "I- wherever he goes I go."

"You've taken the child as a foundling and I don't intend to separate a clan," I answer and decide. "I'll be coming with you."

"Why?" he asks defensively, on edge from what he's just witnessed. "Why change your mind?"

"Because as a Jedi it is my duty to protect this child, as much as it is yours as it's father," I say knowing that this child needs to be taught to control it's powers, and more importantly protected from the darkness that I've felt targeting Ben. "You have cared for him well but his abilities make him a target for forces you cannot understand. This child crossed my path for a reason, as did you."

"That's quite a change of heart overnight," he questions and my eyes are on the child who reaches his little hand out towards me.

"I was told what I needed to hear," I say looking at him, knowing it wasn't just my father. "You were right, harsh but right. I- the way I've been living is not the way of the Jedi or the Mandalorian. It's not coincidence I came across you on this barren planet, even if you are not like any other Mandalorian I've known."

"I can say the same for you," he says looking me up and down in my leather armour. "I can accept that you are a Jedi, but a Mandalorian-"

I hold up my hand to stop him before this can escalate into another fight. "I am not going to argue, but I will ask this. Was your clan one of those who left during the civil wars, when the Duchess Satine came to rule Mandalore?"

He stammers over words and I realise he has no idea.

"Do you recognise her name?" I ask carefully. The clans who left hated her, many had to be exiled due to terrorism. Bo Katan was one of them. If his clan left due to my mother he'd certainly recognise her name.

"No, I don't."

"Am I the only Mandalorian you've met who doesn't wear a helmet?"

"By creed a Mandalorian cannot remove their helmet," he says curtly and I begin to realise just what he is.

Something I've only heard mentioned once or twice, a religious cult sworn to follow the ancient ways. Such cults formed and left Mandalore, or dwelled outside of the cities, well before I was born, I only know those who were adversaries during my mother's reign.

Very calmly I tell him "This is the creed I was taught. That I lived by. _'Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule. Honour is life, for with no honour one may as well be dead. Death is life, one should die as they have lived.'_ "

"I know the creed," he says sounding unnerved by the fact that I do. "But it is not The Way."

The Way. I've grown up with the phrase, often used to refer to following the creed. But I often heard Bo Katan use it ironically when talking about the other clans who followed more extremist beliefs which I always found ironic due to her past.

"Then what is The Way?" I ask him wanting to understand, knowing there cannot be this conflict between us. Something he picks up on and the tension begins to leave his shoulders.

"Everything mentioned in the creed. And that if a Mandalorian removes their helmet in front of another living being they can never put it back on."

And I know he is from one of those extremist cults, from which I don't know, but there's no doubt in my mind. Now that I understand I can't feel anger or resentment towards him for his beliefs, only remorse for the fact he was raised within a cult. That he never knew any different.

"Mando," I tread carefully. "When the Duchess Satine came to power fifty or so odd years ago on Mandalore it was a time of civil war. Many disagreed with her policies, she was a pacifist who wanted to leave the ways of war behind in a time where war was becoming inevitable. Many clans left Mandalore of their own free will, some were exiled for terrorist attacks. Many had differing views, some followed the ancient ways more than others, yours was one of them."

"You don't understand-"

"No, you don't understand," I say calmly as I try to explain. "I was raised on Mandalore, I know things you do not because your clan was isolated from others. Had beliefs only they followed. The Way of the Mandalore as you call it is one of them."

He still cannot comprehend it, he can't. He can't believe that everything he's known has been a lie. "You're lying-"

"My name is Kyra Kenobi of Clan Kryze," I say but he has no recognition of the clan, even if he knew I was a duchess he wouldn't care. He can't even begin to fathom what I'm telling him but I make sure he knows it isn't an attack. "My aunt was one of those exiled from Mandalore before I was born for following beliefs other's did not, she was considered an extremist. This happened to many people, your clan likely left Mandalore before you were born. You wouldn't have known any different from what they taught you and that is no fault of yours."

He's deadly silent and the child looks between us nervously and I give it a look that he definitely knows means no choking but even that would be more welcome than this silence filled with racing thoughts.

"There is only one way," he repeats again but his voice shakes. "The way of the Mandalore."

I nod stiffly, not in agreement but in acceptance of his beliefs. "Then by your definition of a Mandalorian I am not one, and that is fine. But by birth and by creed I know who I am and that is fine. I do not wish to argue religion because we know where that will end."

I can feel his heart racing, him sweating beneath his armour. The panic that's settled over him. While he remains firm in his beliefs vocally I can feel the doubt in his mind, as if he dwells on it a moment longer he may just combust.

Finally he cedes. "Thank you."

I nod and touch the child's head, allowing myself to feel it not with my senses but with the force. To find a deeper understanding.

But I can't undo years of self destruction in my faith in a day. It will take time to rebuild my connection with the force, I have to for the child's sake.

"My name is Kyra," I tell him. "Your father here has been searching for a Jedi. Do you know what a Jedi is?"

He can't speak but there's a deep knowing, far greater than I can understand alone.

"I am going to train you and protect you," I promise the child and he looks at Mando in a panic.

"She's going to stay with us," he says uncertainly and I can't blame him. I just shook his entire world, everything he's known and believed.

I don't expect much from him, at the very most respect.

"I won't take you from your father," I promise the child. "I am not cruel."

Mando here would argue otherwise after everything I've told him, but even so he asks. "Then where do we go?"

Something I haven't yet thought about. Where to train him. Anything practical about this arrangement.

"Let's return to your ship and then we'll figure that out."

He looks at the wreckage of his speeder. "Long walk."

"My speeders just down that way, we'll fit."

He nods and is silent as I help him salvage the wreckage and then go to my speeder. Silently he loads his belongings onto it then stand's there with the child in his arms looking at it. He watches as I climb onto it and slide to the front to make room.

"Hop on, otherwise it will be a long walk."

He lets out a reluctant sigh as he climbs on behind me with the child in the little sack.

"Hold on," I say and his hand comes to lightly rest over my hip.

It's still a long drive to the hanger and I can feel Mando's conflict. His fingers dig into my hips without realising it as he tries to keep himself together. Even the child can tell he's not alright.

I decide to stay silent but his thoughts are anything but quiet.

~

After hours of silence it's nearing dusk and people are already entering the cantina.

"She's in there," I say as we come to a stop, the first words I've spoken since we got on the speeder. 

We climb off and he watches with hesitance as I hold the child in my arms while he gets the Krayt dragon for Peli Motto. We enter and find her playing cards.

"Oh thank the maker you two didn't kill each other," she exclaims then very quickly changes the subject after seeing the look on my face and seeing the discomfort in his posture. Her eyes go to Boba's armour. "You finally found a Mandalorian and you killed him."

"He wasn't a Mandalorian," Mando says.

"And turns out I did kill him all those years ago," I add.

"Bought this armour off of the man who had it though," Mando finishes, still not speaking directly to me.

"What did that set you back?"

"We killed the Krayt dragon for him," I answer and she looks unimpressed.

"Is that all?" she asks. "Why don't you put that chunk of meat on to roast and I might let you have some."

~

And while that's cooking we sit at the back of the cantina together, just him and I, and the child.

Even if he hardly wants to look at me right now his main priority is the child. Just as it has to be mine.

"I will take the child as my padawan."

"Your what?"

"Apprentice," I clarify. "Traditionally a Jedi Knight would take an apprentice when they were a child and train them until they were also a knight, then they were often given the rank of master."

"So you'd be a Jedi master?" he asks. "Is that why you've agreed?"

"I've already trained a Jedi Knight, two actually" I say knowing it definitely wasn't just Yoda and my Father who trained him. Luke spent mere days with each, I spent years with him. And as for Leia I took the lead in her training. "I am already a master. Which is why it's my duty to protect and train the child."

He scoffs and I know he doesn't trust me.

"I understand why you don't believe my intentions are pure, I reacted badly when you asked for my help," I admit. "But you have not seen the things I have, know the things I do. This child is a once in a generation anomaly with the potential to be very dangerous. I have a dark past with powerful force individuals, my encounters with Darth Vader have left me very wary. Even my own nephew who I adore makes me wary. There are reasons I have refrained from calling myself a Jedi and following the code. But this child is still just a child, a child who as a Jedi I have a responsibility to take under my wing. Just as you have a responsibility to care for him as his father."

He's hesitant, but he pushes aside that bitterness for the sake of the child.

"Where do we go?"

On the long, silent ride here I had time to think clearly, enough to know that I need a second opinion on his training from someone who has first hand experience with powerful and potentially unstable force individuals.

"I want to get another Jedi's input on his training," I tell him having considered it in depth.

Training Luke, a semi grown man, was one thing. Training Leia was another. They had raw abilities but they hadn't been able to tap into them without training.

This child is different, he knows how to use his abilities. He needs proper training, guidance. Except he is unlike anything I've ever seen. Not even Ben has come close to being able to tap into the things this child has.

"You know more Jedi?"

"Three," I answer. "The two I trained, my dearest friends who are my brother and sister in everything but blood. One is a senator now and chose to not follow the path of the Jedi despite her training. The other is a Jedi Master, but he and I don't see eye to eye on certain things. He has become more of a traditional Jedi where as I have a different approach."

"What do you mean?"

I feel sick, a sickness I've never been able to confide to Luke. "Would you forgive a man who killed billions of people and tortured your closest friends even if they were blood?"

He's unsettled. "No."

"And that's the difference."

"And the other Jedi?"

"I haven't met her personally but my father helped train her before the fall of the Republic. She doesn't call herself a Jedi anymore but she was trained at the temple amongst other younglings. From my knowledge of her she understands the force and the order as I do, has similar opinions regarding the order itself, she will be able to help me decide how and where he should be trained."

"Alright," he says settling back in his seat. "So where is she?"

"I don't know," I answer. "But I know someone who does."

"And where are they?"

"I don't know," I answer again and he tilts his head at me in annoyance. "Let's just say we had a falling out after Mandalore fell."

He takes a deep breath "How bad of a falling out?"

_I was on the ground in the ruins of the palace. I couldn't breathe. My throat was clenched tight and my body broken after Vader's torture._

_But I never broke, not until then._

_"Get up," a harsh voice said and I couldn't bear to look at my aunt. "Where the hell were you?"_

_But I couldn't speak, I tried but no words came out._

_"Your soldiers are dead, slaughtered!" she hissed. "How are you still alive?"_

_My eyes drifted to the bodies scattering what is now a battlefield, my soldiers. People I swore to protect but a lightsaber was no match for the might of the Empire._

_"Your mother once told me you'd be the one who'd finally unite the Mandalorians. The Mand'alor. She believed it, Mandalore believed it. And so did I."_

_She roughly pulled my chin up and forced me to look at her. "When she died I agreed to serve as regent until you finished running around with rebels and grew up. You abandoned us. The greatest warrior in the galaxy running away from the Empire."_

_My voice was hoarse and broken but defiant. "I never ran. Everything I've ever done has been for Mandalore."_

_"And you failed," she scolded. "You aren't worthy of your armour. You aren't worthy of even calling yourself a Mandalorian let alone Mand'alor."_

_"And where were you?" I dared to ask. "Where were you when you lost the Darksaber?"_

_She let go of me roughly and no one had ever looked upon me with so much hate. Not even my worst enemy._

_And then the last family I had turned her back on me, leaving me in the rubble of my home that I failed._

"She was my aunt," I tell him stiffly. "We haven't spoken in seven years."

"Since the purge," he says and I nod, at this point surprised he's even aware of the purge but then again, the Empire rained down hell on every clan they could find, even those living in isolation.

"And she's what you call a Mandalorian?"

"Yes," I answer glad he only sounds uncomfortable with the subject instead of downright pissed. "She knows where the Jedi is."

He sighs. "So, we're back looking for a Mandalorian?"

The word we surprises me, as if I'd been half expecting him to change his mind about me joining him. "You sure you still want me to come along?"

He's hesitant, unsure and looks to the child who's staring at him with those big eyes, then back to me. "I don't know what you did earlier with the bandit, but if you can protect the child I can't refuse."

There's a selflessness to him I can't help but respect. "I'll protect the child with my life."

"Then it's settled," he says being a pragmatist. "Now we need to find your aunt."

The thought fills me with dread. "I'll warn you ahead of time that she's difficult."

"And you?" he asks and the corner of my lip turns up.

"You'll see."

~

We return to Peli Motto who is indulging in another game of cards.

"You're still looking for a Mandalorian?" she exclaims. "Both of you?"

"Wasn't exactly what I planned but here we are," I say knowing that I expected many things when I came here, but to go and find my aunt is the last thing I could have ever expected.

"Well, you might be in luck," she says gesturing to the other player. "Dr Mandible says he can connect you with someone who can help you. If you cover his call this round."

Mando and I look at each other in suspicion, knowing that in our lines of work things are never this easy.

"What's the bet?"

"Five hundred."

"That's a high stakes game."

I just shake my head as I pull out some credits and chuck them on the table knowing I don't have any use for them. We watch sceptically as they finish the game and she win's.

"That's paying for my next lot of repairs."

"Yeah, yeah," she says waving me off and listening to the doctor. "All right, he says the contact will rendezvous at the hanger. They'll tell you where to find some Mandalorians."

We share an equally sceptical look as we follow her back to the hanger, trailing behind.

"There's going to be a catch isn't there?"

"Always is."

~

We sit near the fire at the hanger for a while, waiting, until she finally comes back out.

"All right here's the deal, a Mandalorian covert is close. It's in this sector, one system trailing," she says and Mando and I look at each other. 

"A covert?" I repeat in disbelief. "In this sector?"

"You heard me right."

"Are they the one's who left Navarro?" he asks and I realise he must have been apart of one, that he hasn't always been a lone wanderer, but then again that's not how we begin. At some point we lose our way and it's what we become.

"Don't know," she answers. "All I know is that the contact will lead you to them."

"How much will it cost?" 

"Well that's the great news, its free."

Mando and I look at each other almost in amusement knowing it was too good to be true, that our bets were right.

"What's the catch?"

"There's no catch." I raise an eyebrow at her and she elaborates. "Well there may be a teeny, tiny catch. The contact want's passage to the system."

"Do you vouch for them?" 

"On my life."

"Fine," he agrees but before we can leave to go meet the contact she stops us.

"And no hyperdrive."

"You want me to travel sublight?" he exclaims much to my confusion. "Deal's off."

"It's one sector over."

"Moving fast is the only thing keeping me safe-"

"Pardon?" I interrupt. "What do you mean the only thing keeping you safe?"

He looks at the kid and I can feel the fear nagging at him. "It's a long story."

"You've got a lot of those," I comment, still not knowing how he even came across the kid in the first place.

"Cut it out you two!" she snaps. "There are mitigating circumstances."

"Mitigating."

Mando and I both stand more upright as a frog lady carrying a bunch of eggs walks out. I expected a sketchy contact, not this.

He bends down and argues quietly "I am not a taxi service."

"I know, I know I hear you, but I can vouch for her."

The frog lady comes up and starts speaking frog, something clearly neither of us understand and I already know it will be a long trip.

"She needs her eggs fertilised by the equinox or her line will end," Peli explains. "Jump into hyperspace and they'll die."

My eyes catch the attention of the kid as she continues her long winded explanation to try and convince Mando, he might be fifty but he really is still just a hungry kid with the way he's eyeing those eggs.

"Is she sure there are Mandalorians there?" Mando finally asks and I'm glad I'm finally the least frustrating thing to him in this room.

"She says her husband has seen them."

After some more convincing he finally relents.

~

Before we leave he agrees to go by my place to get supplies, mainly food and bacta considering I doubt he's the type to keep any in a medical kit.

While he gets everything the kid will need I take the chance to get into contact with Leia.

Her holofigure pops up. "Kyra, I was starting to get worried. Did you find him?"

"No but I found someone else," I answer, hearing Mando try to shovel some food into the kid before we leave. "Turns out Boba is dead, it wasn't him in the armour. The guy bought it off some Jawa's."

"I was hoping that would be the case," she says studying my face. "Are you disappointed?"

"No," I say quickly. "I'm relieved but it still doesn't feel quite right. It's been a long couple of days. Haven't slept since I got here."

"Are you alright?"

"I- it's been hard to shake the past when it's being thrown at me," I answer knowing I'll have to confront it sooner rather than later. "I'm going to find my aunt."

"Kyra," she breathes in disapproval. "Why would you do that to yourself? You had been tortured and she just disowned you and left you there."

"I know," I say hoarsely. "She isn't family anymore. My family is you and Luke and Han and Chewie, Lando. That's my family and the best thing that's ever happened to me. But I need to find her."

"Why?"

"Because she knows where another Jedi is, it's a long story which doesn't make much sense to me yet but I need to do this. My father's force ghost appeared to me for the first time in years and told me it's fate. I can't run from it anymore Leia."

She's confused, bewildered and concerns but even so she nod's her approval. "Trust in the force, trust your gut and do what you need to do."

"Thank you Leia," I say looking at my sister for what will be the last time in a long time. "I don't know how long I'll be gone but it will be a long time."

"And we'll be here waiting for you to come home," she promises and there's tears in my eyes. The family who will never abandon me.

"I love you," I say trying to keep the tears at bay. "Give everyone my love and let them know I'll be just fine, like always."

But we both know there is something different about this time even if I can't put my finger on it. Usually I always have some inkling of when I'll come home but this time there is none and it terrifies me. But I know regardless of fear I must face it.

"I will, and I love you too," she says and her hologram disappears. 

My eyes stare into the numb darkness and a tear slips down my cheek, only a moment later a voice startles me. 

"You ready to leave?"

I wipe the tear away and look back to see Mando leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How long have you been standing there."

"I didn't want to interrupt," he simply answers. "Was that your sister?"

I nod. "Not by blood but she's family, has been since I was about sixteen and joined the rebellion. I just thought I better let her know I won't be going home to Chandrila anytime soon, not that it was ever really home."

"If you have a family why are you all the way out here?" he asks seeming genuinely confused and I oblige him.

"To keep them safe from what's coming."

He tilts his head at me and his voice is thinner. "What do you mean what's coming?"

"The Empire," I answer. "It's never really been gone."

He looks down the hall checking the child's alright before stepping into the room and lowering his voice. "You're right. I've been out there for a long time, not long ago I had a stand off with the Empire, a warlord called Moff Gideon."

The name sends me utterly cold. "Moff Gideon, he was the one who led the attack on Mandalore."

That seems to be news to him. "He's dead now, I made sure of that."

I nod, rendered shocked. "I searched for him for years, how did you find him?"

"He found me," he answers. "You asked me how I got the kid, he was a bounty. Some type of experiment for the Empire. I brought him in and got the beskar in exchange. But I couldn't go through with it, I took him back and went rogue." He hesitates for a moment and his voice is hoarse. "Got my covert killed because of it. Because they revealed themselves to the Empire to save me."

My lips are parted and my jaw slack as I take in what he's told me. I can feel the guilt on his shoulders, the shame. Something that has been on his chest for a long time.

"I thought you should know," he quickly follows up. "For the sake of protecting the child."

And perhaps that's what he intended, but I know better than anyone how the words spill out when they've been kept inside for so long.

"I understand," I say so quietly it's barely audible. "The guilt."

He remains silent as I step closer to him and my voice is strong. "We'll keep the child safe, I'd die before I let the Empire kill another Jedi, or another Mandalorian."

It's then he extends his hand to me. "This is the way."

And I take it. "This is the way."


	7. six.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another happy landing.  
> Word count. 6.2k

The fact Mando is so jumpy about not using hyperdrive should worry me a little more than it does, despite him telling me it's because of the Empire and crime gangs there's some things I'm sure he's neglecting to add.

"Are you sure the Empire and criminals are the only thing we have to worry about?" I ask as we finish loading the ship.

"What else would there be to worry about?" he asks but I cock my head at him. "There's only pirates, war lords-"

I place a firm hand on his chest as I pass him, stopping to tell him "First thing to know about the Jedi, don't try to lie to one. Or a woman for that matter."

With a coy little smile I leave him there to pick up the child who reaches for me, for a moment pondering my last words and wondering if he's had many women on board this ship. My gut tells me no but from the look of him I wouldn't be surprised, despite being Mandalorian myself I can hardly say I haven't been tempted by a man in beskar before. Except I remember how that ended far too well.

"And second thing," I tell the child as I lift him up and look him in his big black eyes. "We don't choke people. Got it?"

He coos a little guiltily and I whisper "Unless you really have to."

He likes the sound of that more and Mando chuckles. "Now that I approve of."

"I'd be concerned, well more concerned, about that little violent streak if he hadn't been raised by a Mandalorian for so long."

"And you?" he asks tilting his head at me, focusing on the saber at my hip. "You can't deny having a violent streak after you held your laser sword at Vanth."

"It's a lightsaber and oh I don't deny it," I say proudly knowing that while the Jedi are supposed to be guardians of peace that is far from the reality. "But if possible I resort to more persuasive methods. They often called me the negotiator but it was more persuasion than mind control."

"What you did to the bandit?" he asks, his voice wavering slightly. "What was that?"

"A Jedi mind trick," I answer honestly as the child looks up at me in recognition of the word. "My father certainly taught me how to handle myself in combat but also how to avoid confrontation."

He sounds a little unnerved. "So mind control?"

"Not quite," I try to explain. "For example, it only works on the weak minded, so you don't have anything to worry about."

He nods seeming a little more at ease then asks "And the child, could you use it on him?"

"Considering how strong he is with the force I doubt it," I answer, surprised by the question. "Why?"

"So you could actually make him behave."

The kid makes an offended sound and I just laugh. "Unfortunately there's no special Jedi trick to make a child behave, trust me I've tried."

He sounds genuinely disappointed. "Really?"

"My nephew Ben is strong with the force like this child. He's a menace like his father so trust me when I say his mother had asked me the same thing once," I chuckle fondly. "Nothing teaches you patience like a child, or rather forces it upon you."

"You aren't wrong," he says walking over and letting the child wrap his little hand around his finger. "We should get going."

I look up towards the stairs to the cockpit and sigh. "I have a bad feeling about this, travelling sublight never ends well."

He scoffs. "And you're the one telling me I'm worrying."

"Warlords and Imperials are my speciality," I say knowing I've seen far too much combat to fear a group of pirates. Something else doesn't feel quite right and I know well enough to suspect trouble by now. "I'm far from worried about them, but the galaxy has become a strange place these past years. Almost like it's in limbo between being under the rule of the Empire and the Republic."

"The Republic doesn't even feel real," he confesses to me. "Not this far out in the outer rims."

"It's a lawless place," I say finding that common ground, a common understanding between us.

I haven't dared mention my Mandalorian heritage since I found them in the desert, the closest recognition of it coming as we left my home.

_This is the way._

I realised that what divides us may just be the common ground in which we find respect for one another, understanding.

And the very thing that brings us together I hold in my arms. The child.

"I'll have to test the extent of his powers before we bring him to Ahsoka," I tell Mando who dotes on his son. "For now he should rest, he is just a child after all, and after we take the lady to her destination I'll see what he's capable of."

It's hard to believe that such an innocent child is capable of such power. But then again I see it every time I look at Ben.

And I know that just as he is Luke's responsibility, this child is mine.

"He's a special kid," Mando says, seeing the child as just a child, not a powerful creature. The love in his voice can't be hidden as much as he may try.

"He is," I say offering a small smile and glancing at the eggs remembering we have a deadline. "We should get going."

~

With the child put to bed we find our way into the cockpit, small but I doubt he's ever needed anything bigger as a lone traveller. Until now.

There's still much about this arrangement that needs to be discussed but that can be done once it's just the two of us and the child, when we have some idea of where we are going.

"Now, I'm going to ask you to stay strapped in whenever your seated," Mando begins and I look across to the Frog Lady hoping she can understand what he's saying, clearly from the contempt in his voice at being a taxi service he's just hoping she can as well. "Travelling sublight is a bit dicey these days. Whether it's pirates or warlords, someone either ends up with a nice chunk of change or your ship."

She speaks back to him in her own language, he looks to me to see if I have any idea what she's saying but I just offer a shrug in return.

"I don't speak whatever language that is. You speak Huttese?" He tries uncertainly speaking Huttese and while it's nice he's trying I can't help but be amused as he lets out a sigh of resignation and gives up.

It's then I feel the Child's presence and from the mischief that accompanies it he's certainly not asleep.

"I'm gonna hit the rack," Mando says turning his chair around. "I've set the nav for our course, it's gonna take a while. I recommend you get some rest."

The lady settles back in her chair and he heads towards the door but stops to ask. "You need anything?"

"Nope, I'll keep an eye out for any trouble," I tell him which seems to make some tension disappear from his shoulders. "But you might want to check on your kid, he's up to no good."

For a moment he seems confused before very quickly going below deck and not long after there's some muffled sounds of panic and I can't help but laugh.

Then I look out at the galaxy, somehow never tiring of the sight. The last time I found myself doing this in the cockpit of a strangers ship for the first time it was in the Falcon after they rescued Leia and I. Little did I know then soon the people in that ship would become my family, that the ship would become a new home.

I can't help but feel the same feeling, the deep knowing I felt all those years ago.

~

Alarms wake me from the first relatively peaceful sleep I've had in days.

"Shit!" I jolt, jumping upright but finding no threats, just a ship trying to make contact through the coms. Only moments later Din runs in. "It's fine, no danger." 

"Razor Crest, M-One-Eleven. Come in Razor Crest. Do you copy."

I ease back into my seat at the voice of the Republic officer but slowly sit back upright when Din fails to relax.

"This is Razor Crest, is there a problem?"

The panic in his voice is mostly masked by the modulator but not enough.

"We noticed your transponder's not emitting."

"Yes I'm pre-Empire surplus, I'm not required to run a beacon," he stammers slightly and I realise just what he was really worried about. What all lone wanderers are worried about.

The law.

"That was before, this sector is under New Republic jurisdiction." He looks at me as if asking if I knew and I just raise my hands in my defence, genuinely having had no idea. "All craft are required to run a beacon."

"Thank you for letting me know, I'll get right on it."

"Not a problem safe travels."

"May the force be with you," he says taking me by surprise, shocked he even knows the saying when he knows so little of the Jedi.

"And also with you." Just as he starts to ease back the officers voice comes through the coms again. "One more thing."

Even I can't help but roll my eyes and Mando lets out a very exasperated "Yes."

"I'm gonna need you to send us a ping, we're out here sweeping for Imperial hold outs."

I can feel the panic hit him. "I'll let you know if I see any."

"I'm still gonna need you to send us that ping."

Frustrated and knowing that Mando definitely does not want to get involved with the Republic I stand up and but my way in. "Hi, this is General Kenobi."

"General?" The officer stammers. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware-"

"Don't worry, my friend here's just having a bit of trouble getting that ping working for you," I say leaning over Mando to speak into the com. "As far as I'm aware they aren't any Imperial holdouts in this sector so you don't have to worry."

"I'm sorry General but protocol is protocol and we need that ping."

I let out a strained laugh. "Come on guys, it's been a long few days don't make me follow you to an outpost. What did you say your name was?"

"Captain Carson Teva."

"Carson," I say in relief actually knowing the officer and Mando shifts uncertainly in his seat as he looks at the ships on either side of us. "We've known each other since I joined the rebellion, you know I'm not an Imperial. I'm just hitching a ride with an old friend to keep off the radars, Republic business."

"That may be so General, but the Republic is also cracking down on crafts off the radar," he says and I curse silently. "It's painful but I'm sure you can understand, even General Solo's gotten into trouble with his ship. It's just protocol."

I laugh again trying to throw him off, to talk my way out of this. "Well that's Han for you. Always getting into trouble. Have you seen his son? I swear he looks just like him, well aside from the black hair and the rest. Both menaces I can tell you that much."

"I can imagine," he chuckles. "I'm surprised that ship of his hadn't been taken to some junk yard on Jakku years ago."

It's then the other pilot comes through on the line. "General Kenobi, I'm sorry but uh-are you aware that there is a warrant for your arrest?"

Mando looks at me and I stare at the coms completely stunned, the words falling from deaf ears into space.

"What?" I breathe and shake my head like it's some sick joke while Mando continue to stare at me in equal confusion. "For what?"

"Trapper come on, we both know that warrants a farce," Carson says to the other pilot while my eyes dart between their ships.

"General, you are being called before the New Republic to be investigated and potentially tried for several crimes in violation of the Galactic Concordance."

"What?" I exclaim and laugh in utter disbelief. "I'm a General of the New Republic, how the hell could I break a treaty that applies to Imperials? Because being one of the people who wrote that blasted thing and forced that Imperial bastard to sign it I can't imagine what rubbish they've concocted to be in violation of it!"

"Your actions in relation to the case of Moff Gideon have been deemed extreme and unnecessary for which you are being subjected criminal investigation for war crimes."

"War crimes!" I exclaim while Mando begins subtly working at the controls knowing this is going south. "Who the hell in the Republic would press charges for war crimes!"

"An ex-imperial working for the senate has pressed the charges, claiming you unlawfully imprisoned and executed two pardoned Imperial Commanders which is in violation of the Galactic Concordance," Carson tells me and I've never felt so sick. "We have orders to bring you to Chandrila. If you meet us at the outpost there will be no trouble."

"I am a General, your commanding officer, please," I plead with them as Mando stares at me in shock. "We go out separate ways and I hand myself over to the authorities on my terms."

"General," Carson says sadly. "The Republic for some time now has recognised you as an individual acting independently of their orders which served at the basis for these charges, the rank of General has become honourary and I'm afraid we need to bring you in. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

The words are a hard blow, even from a man who respects me. The rank I fought for and was prepared to die for, honourary.

So that's how the Republic sees me, just another retired war hero, a renegade. Now little more than a war criminal.

Mando looks at me with a question, his hands on the controls ready to go. "Carson. Please."

It's then the the other polite chimes in. "Was this craft in the proximity of New Republic correctional transport Bothan-Five?"

It's then without warning or hesitation he takes off.

I jolt forward, my hand slamming against the window of the cockpit as we hurl towards the atmosphere of the nearest planet.

"Hold on."

"Thanks for the warning."

With that I fall back into my seat and the Frog Lady by now is wide awake and more than mildly concerned.

"Razor Crest, General Kenobi stand down! We don't want to fire but we will."

"No you won't!" I yell as Mando dives into the atmosphere, swerving to lose them. "Carson! I order you to stand down!"

"I don't want to do this General, stand down and we won't tell the Republic you resisted arrest. You know they won't convict you of anything if it's coming from an Imperial, especially one who they know covered up Moff Gideons escape."

The Frog Lady's screaming and I try to ignore her as I begin panicking, shocked that after all this time they've opened an investigation into my search for Moff Gideon. Into what I did for justice. The only time in my life I almost slipped into the darkness.

"Just stand down and let us go!" I order again knowing it's in vain as Mando tries to lose them but I know they won't. "Please."

"General please just stop the ship, we don't want to do this."

Then he dives into a canyon and I'm holding onto whatever I can for dear life. "Mando, you're going to get us killed!"

"I said hold on!"

"No, not when what you're doing is suicide!" I yell as I grab onto his chair and pull myself forward and slam my hand on the com. "I said stand down or you're going to have four bodies on your hands!"

"General-"

Mando swerves again, narrowly missing an ice wall and I practically fall onto him, cursing as my arm collides with hard beskar and grit I between my teeth. "Stop the blasted ship and I'll take care of this!"

"Because you're doing such a great job."

"I was before you took off!" He grabs my arm to keep me upright as he swerves again. "How considerate of you. Now will you stop so I can get us out of this mess!"

His grip is tight on my arm and his voice guttural. "They might let you go for whatever you did with a slap on the wrist but not me."

"You're a Mandalorian, I'll take care of it," I swear to him but we both know we've gone too far to turn back and expect a clean slate.

"General!" Trapper warns through the coms as he fires a warning shot. "This is your last-"

"Hold your fire you're not helping here!" I snap as I try to pull my arm free from Mando''s iron grip and fail. "Stop the bloody ship and I'll get us out of this!"

Then he dives one last time and we come to a screeching halt, the ships going past and it's dead quiet.

Mando releases his grip on my arm as he looks at me and lets out a breath of relief. "We lost them."

However that relief short lived as moments later a crack causes us to still and the last thing I'm aware of is Mando grabbing me by the waist as we plummet through the ice.

~

I wake on the floor of the cockpit with my head resting against Mando's leg and curse under my breath. Not good.

My eyes travel up Mando's body and find him hunched over unconscious face down in the controls.

Groaning I use him as leverage to pull myself to my feet and shake him fearfully. "Mando?"

Thankfully he stirs and then jolts upright as he realises what's happened. His head turns towards me and checks me over before we both look back at the frog lady who's unconscious in her seat.

"Please don't be dead," I say stumbling over and sitting her upright, thankfully she wakes as well but full of panic. "Don't worry, I'm sure your eggs are fine."

I feel a hand on my shoulder and hear his voice, deep and shaken. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," I say then panic hits me. "The kid."

Both of us bolt from the cockpit and down the ladder to the deck below.

"Dank farrik!" I hear him curse as he looks around at the wreckage and I open the sleeping compartment to find the kid gone.

"He's not here."

He immediately runs through the wreckage, searching for the child while I reach out through the force.

"He's alright," I promise him. "He's here somewhere. He's alright."

It's then Mando pulls back a cover and for a moment we're both stunned to find the child who could have just been killed eating the Frog Lady's eggs.

"No!" Mando scolds as if this isn't the first time and picks him up. "I told you not to do that."

The child looks unashamed and I realise that the child who decides right after a crash that it's time for a snack is my padawan.

I already know I'll be calling on my father for strength and sanity.

The Frog Lady calls out from above as Mando surveys the remains of the child's dinner.

"Found them," I call out to her. Then Mando and I look to see the child shamelessly gobble another one up. "How many did you eat?"

He burps and I'm beginning to realise that his powers aren't what I need to worry about but the fact he is a literal child.

A child I'll have to raise.

I'll have to get some advice from Leia, not just Ahsoka.

That is if we can figure out a way to get out of this hole.

"You get the lady down here, I'll watch the kid," I say to Mando and he nods as he goes back to the cockpit.

I kneel down in front of the kid and shake my head. "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?"

He coos and I pick him up, feeling how cold he is.

"Mando?" I call as he starts coming back down the ladder. "Do you have any blankets?"

"Yeah, just hold on," he says going to the sleeping compartment while the Lady climbs down and runs to her eggs. I give the child a pointed look but it definitely doesn't do anything to get rid of the cheeky look in his eye. "Here."

Mando comes over, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders which I use to cover the kid and he checks us both again.

"You sure you're okay? You weren't strapped in."

"I'm alright," I promise him as the child snuggles into the blanket. "You grabbed me, kept from going through the windshield."

"Well, I can't let the only Jedi I've been able to find die on my watch," he comments putting on that tough facade.

"Alright tough guy," I reply as he pulls the blanket tighter around my shoulders and makes sure it's tucked around the child as well. "But thank you."

He lets go to attend to the lady and her eggs and I look at the child in my arms and sigh knowing this isn't good.

~

We sit wrapped in blankets contemplating what the hell we do now.

"If you hadn't guessed we're in a tight spot," he says to the frog lady who we've decided to assume can understand us. "The main power drive is not responding and the hull has lost its integrity. I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls."

"It will," I confirm. "I once spent a few months on a base on Hoth, a planet like this one. During the day it was bearable but if someone didn't make it back before nightfall let's just say they usually didn't make it back alive. Even on the base itself people almost died of hypothermia."

I remember Han and I finding Luke half dead in the snow after the Wampa. Having to dig Shara and Kes out of a collapsed tunnel during the bases construction. Countless cases where the cold was a greater enemy than the Empire. I couldn't say I was overly devastated when we had to find a new base.

"Any suggestions?" he asks knowing just how dangerous this situation is, he's a realistic man. 

"We don't know what's down here, there could be anything. On Hoth there were Wampa's, the type of horrid creatures you're told stories about as a kid," I say and the child whines a little. "I doubt they'd be here but the point is we don't know what's outside this ship and once night falls chances are they'll want to see what's crashed into their cave. We should take a look around and clear the area, fortify this as best we can and then in the morning find a way to get the hell out of here."

He nods. "Alright then, we'll take a look around." He looks at the lady and the kid. "You should get some rest, we won't be long. And you kid, behave. You know what I mean."

I remove the blanket from my shoulders and wrap the kid up tight in it, not just to keep it warm but still. "Don't you even think about it."

Making sure the kid doesn't get any idea's we venture out of the hole in the ship and stand there for a moment taking in the damage.

"What do you think the odds are of getting this thing back in the air?"

"Not good," he answers. "But we'll figure it out."

"Do the coms still work?"

"No idea," he answers. "And if they did the signal wouldn't reach very far." I look away and he sighs heavily. "If you're thinking about trying to reach those pilots-"

"It might be the only choice we have," I say stiffly as we begin to survey the area. "I don't want to any more than you do but would you rather die here?"

He doesn't answer and I realise I probably don't want the answer to that question.

So I ask another.

"How many years are you looking at if the Republic gets you?"

"How many for breaking into and shooting up a Republic prison?"

While it takes me by surprise it could be worse. Even so I can imagine the sentence.

"Depends," I say drawing on those years of studying law as a teenager, in preparation for a role I'd never fill. "Why'd you do it?"

The question rubs him the wrong way but he gives in. "I was hired by an old crew to free one of their member's who'd been locked up. Let's just say they didn't pay me anywhere near enough for it."

His answer also rubs me the wrong way. "You did it for money."

"I'm a bounty hunter," he replies. "Not all of us have the prestige of being a war hero."

"It's hardly prestige," I reply knowing it means almost nothing now. "You heard them, it isn't the first time I've been called a war criminal."

"Are you?"

And I realise that if I push his buttons he'll push mine right back. It's fair enough.

"We've all done bad things to survive, some worse than others," I answer stiffly. "When you're on the front lines in enemy territory with thousands of lives on your shoulders you can't afford to be the good guy, it doesn't matter if you fought honourably if you're dead. Sometimes you have to play by the enemies rules. Which are none at all."

There's no judgement on his part, he knows what it's like out there. It isn't some children's story where the good guys win with the power of friendship and never play dirty. He knows it's bloody and brutal.

"Sometimes you have to do bad things to survive. But why would they press charges after all these years?"

"Because to make peace they accepted ex-Imperials into the senate. It's hard not to when everyone who didn't work for the Rebellion was an Imperial by definition. Most did it to survive but others- they were the real monsters. Monsters who have a personal grudge against me," I say knowing Leia has had to protect me more than once politically. "But it's not what I did to survive that they'd charge me for. The problem was that I survived a genocide, and I was willing to do anything to get justice."

The pain is still fresh as the day of the purge and he listens without interruption as for the first time I explain just what I did without censorship.

"Moff Gideon was meant to have been executed, when I discovered he wasn't I set my sights on the Ex-Imperials who were meant to oversee it. It was clearly a cover up that the Republic was too scared to touch, but I wasn't. I wanted to interrogate Moff Gideon's old commanders to figure out where he was hiding but it's hard when Imperials would take their own life before betraying the Empire. I saw it during Cinder, I wasn't going to give them the chance to escape but the only problem was that they'd been pardoned for allegedly being noble and handing over their commanding officer to the Republic when they were the bastards who helped him escape. So I went rogue and captured them, held them prisoner without the Republics knowledge because they wouldn't have permitted it, they refused to even acknowledge Moff Gideon had survived. Those men, I saw them with my own eyes during the purge murdering the children we couldn't evacuate as the Empires ships gunned down the soldiers, and the women- their deaths weren't as quick I'll say that much. Vader got to me during the purge before I could stop it, I went saber to saber with him but I was no match for the darkside. But when I had them there at my mercy, listening to them mock how they all screamed I- I didn't show any mercy."

And I can feel the same sickness in his stomach I've felt for so many years. When Leia found out I'd gone rogue she was horrified, Lando helped me cover it up considering had some experiences with averting the law in the past, as did Han. As horrified as they were they understood, especially Leia. Both of us the heirs to two planets that were destroyed. The survivors of genocide at the hands of the Empire.

But that wouldn't make it right, not in the eyes of the Republic.

"Good," Mando finally says and for the first time I feel safe bearing that darkness I've harboured for so long. "They didn't deserve mercy. Neither did Moff Gideon. But he's dead now and so are the other's."

"Even so," I say knowing what Luke warned me of. "It's not the Jedi way."

"No, but it's the Mandalorian way."

And I look at him, truly look at him. There is so much conflict within him but slowly I can feel it, an acceptance. Or at least a willingness to find a middle ground.

"We should keep looking," I say clearing my throat and looking around. "Night will fall soon, we should get back to the ship before then."

~

And so after a thorough enough search we head back to the ship where the Frog Lady is asleep and the child still trapped in the blanket.

Mando finds something for him to eat besides eggs and we sit together in contemplative silence.

Silence that gives me time to truly think about everything.   
  
If they have dug up my search for Moff Gideon and want to say I tortured those bastards they'd have grounds but it's an Imperial pressing those charges. Likely one of Gideon's old buddies acting out over his death. Leia would defend me in a heartbeat, she and I know about the cover up the ex-Imperials did over Moffs supposed execution which we can finally prove. The moment we bring that out it's over for them, the charges against me would be dropped but even so it's a stain that can't be removed. I've never been proud of it, despite knowing damn well they deserved it that doesn't mean I'm not ashamed I stopped to their level, even if I had to. But I did it for Mandalore, for the men, women and children slaughtered. For justice.

Now it's time to face the consequences of that justice, but Mando will face far greater penance than I will for breaking in and shooting up a prison. I am the Duchess of Mandalore, a rebel hero for the little it's still worth, but he's a bounty hunter. They won't show him any leniance. I hardly know him in the grand scheme of things but the last thing I want is for us both to be taken in and for me to be the one who goes free.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow General?" he finally asks me to break the silence but it only grows heavier.

"We try to fix this ship and pray for the best, try to contact the officers if we have to but you don't need to call me that. You heard them," I say having known it for a long time now. "I'm not a General, not anymore. The war's over in the eyes of the Republic, ranks are just titles that don't mean anything."

"At the end of the day it's just a title," he says sounding almost confused by it. "Why should it matter?"

"My father always taught me it's not what you're born with, it's what you earn. Whether that be as a Jedi or a soldier. I earned my rank, and now it means nothing. Once again I'm just a lone rebel, and that's the best thing I could be called."

"So then what would you like me to call you?"

"Kyra," I answer also realising how tired I've grown of only being known as a title when I am far more than that. "We're going to be together for the foreseeable future granted we get out of here, you might as well call me by my name."

After a lengthy silence he finally says "Din. My name is Din Djarin."

I look at him I'm surprise.

"Din," I repeat and from how his breath hitches I wonder how long it's been since he's shared his name, heard anyone call him by it. I offer him a small smile. "It's a nice name."

"And so's yours," he says a little awkwardly then adds. "You don't need any title or rank. You're more than just a soldier in the Republics army. You're a warrior. It doesn't matter what other people call you."

And I realise that he's right. That it doesn't matter. Not when everything they give to me can be taken away just like that.

"Thank you Din," I say genuinely and carefully reach across to squeeze his gloved hand, stirring a reaction in him I can't quite name. "And don't worry, your name's safe with me."

I feel his body still at those words and his helmet tilts to look at his hand covering mine. "Like you said, if we get out of here it's going to be you, me and the kid. For better or for worse."

"Well seeing how that's going so far I'm guessing the latter," I say and a low laugh escapes him but there's still a weight on my shoulders. "You don't hate me for what happened that night?"

"I've thought about it, about everything," he says shakily. "I- I still don't know how to believe it but I know you aren't lying. As hard as it is you only told me the truth, if anything I should trust you."

"And do you?"

"The kid does," he answers looking over at his son who's just finished eating. "He might act like a kid but he's never wrong about these things."

"He's special," I say knowingly. "He's a handful but he's special, which is why I'm going to make sure we do this right."

"If we get out of here," he comments looking around at the wreckage.

"We will," I assure him. "And if we don't then we all freeze to death."

He makes an amused sound and watches me pull the blanket tighter around my shoulder's, wishing I took after the Jedi tradition of wearing those horridly plain but warm robes. "You warm enough?"

"I'm the one with the blanket," I laugh quietly and notice how he subtly tries to warm himself. "And I know that beskar isn't keeping you warm."

"I'll live."

I just roll my eyes at his stubbornness and lift up the blanket. "Come here."

"I'm fine. If worst comes to worst I have a flame thrower."

"You're the only one who knows how to fix this damn ship, you are not dying of hypothermia on my watch, or an accident with a flamethrower for that matter," I say knowing he'll find me to be just as stubborn. "Now come here."

He lets out a reluctant sign as he shifts closer until our arms touch, the icy beskar on his shoulder brushing the skin of my bared arm the white leather armour I wear exposes, and I move the blanket to cover us both.

I find myself moving shifting closer at the warmth his body provides and he looks at me but doesn't make any signals of discomfort. His gaze remains on me for a while and whatever smart remarks I had disappear on my tongue. "Din?"

Again I feel what a word as simple as his name does to him, the emotion it stirs within him.

"You aren't what I expected a Jedi to be."

"What we're you expecting?" I ask curiously.

He looks at the kid who's wandering around in front of us, still tiring himself out.

"Well, someone a bit greener." That draws a laugh from me and I swear I can almost feel a smile beneath that helmet. "I- I couldn't have imagined anyone like you."

Before either of us can say anything more the child climbs into his lap, resting his little head on Din's stomach and I tuck him under the blanket. 

His big eyes look between Din and I, cooing contently. I smile at the sound and stroke his little ear as he starts to drift off to sleep and adjust my position against the wall so I'm more comfortable as I feel sleep begin to wash over me as well.

"Sweet dreams," Din says, shifting so my body can lean against his comfortably as I go into a state of half consciousness. And he continues to surprise me, that beneath the cold hard armour is a man who couldn't be further from the cold-hearted bounty hunter he pretends to be. 


	8. seven.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flame throwers and the force.  
> Word count: 4k

"Wake up Mandalorians. This cannot wait until morning."

We jump awake to a droid talking at us, Din's hand on his blaster and mine pointing by ignited saber at the threat, only to find it being the mangled droid in the wreckage but that doesn't calm Din's nerves one bit.

Then we see the Frog Lady beside it and somehow that's more terrifying. "Do not be alarmed. I bypassed the droids security protocols and accessed its vocabulator."

While I'm impressed Din is far from that.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asks as he shoves his blaster back into his holster and I disengage my lightsaber, straightening myself up from where I slept on him and notice the cover of frost over his armour. "That droid is a killer."

The child is still in a sleepy state as he looks around in confusion and I tuck him back under the blanket to keep him warm.

"Is this really necessary?" I ask looking at the droid and pulling the blanket back up over my arms. "It is the middle of the night, not the time for conversation."

"These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle," she says and the child looks at them a bit too happily so I keep a firm hold on him. "My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line."

I go quiet, her words pressing a nerve I've long tried to avoid. One I've avoided ever since the day I become Duchess, the last of my line besides Bo Katan. And not just that, but the weight that's been on my shoulders my entire life as one of the last Jedi. To continue the order.

"I must ask that you hold yourselves true to the deal that you agreed to."

Din and I look at each other then at the wreckage we're in.

"Look Lady, the deal is off," he says roughly. "We're lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives."

"We're sorry okay, we really are. I'm a Mandalorian Jedi, I understand having fought and suffered too much to resign yourself to your line ending. I have two dynasties on my back, I understand. We'll do whatever we can but we're hardly in a position to just pick up and leave this planet."

"I thought honouring one's word was a part of the Mandalorian code, and protecting the innocent was that of the Jedi's. I guess those are just stories for children."

Din and I look at each other and know she's got us with our hand's tied.

He sighs heavily as he stands and aggressively picks up the toolbox. "This was not part of the deal."

I follow him out and we survey the damage from outside once again, it doesn't look any better than it did a few hours ago.

"I don't suppose you could use the force to fix this?"

"Unfortunately that's not how the force works," I regretfully inform him and he sighs again.

"Are you good at fixing ships?"

"Unfortunately that's a no as well."

He sighs once again, he might not be a man of many words but he sure is a man of many sighs. "Kill anything that jumps out then?"

"That I can do."

~

Eventually the kid waddles out as Din's working on the ship.

"How about you come over here, give me a hand? Make yourself useful."

"He won't be much more help than me," I say going to pick him up so he's not walking around in the snow but he continues to waddle off. "Hey, come here."

When I lift him up I bring him around the other side of the ship so Din can work in peace and he points to tracks in the snow.

"Shit," I whisper and the child looks at me. "You didn't hear that. Din!"

"What?"

"The Frog Lady, she took off."

"Dank farrik!" I hear him curse and I'm glad I won't be the only bad influence on the child. He comes to stand beside me and looks at the tracks.

"We better find her," he says and I put a hand on his chest to stop him when he steps forward. "What?"

"You got that flame thrower?" He nods. "Good, I have a feeling we'll need it."

~

Din holds the kid as we venture through the caves.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I say igniting my saber which spreads light through the dark tunnels.

"Keep an eye out," he says holding the kid a bit closer to his chest with a hand on his holster.

We come to a cave opening and I have to admit I'm a little surprised to find her naked in a steaming pond but I honestly can't blame her.

"There you are," Din says barely hiding his irritation. "You can't leave the ship, it's not safe out here."

Din sets the child down by the hot pool and he notices the eggs in it before I do. I bend down and put him behind me with a stern warning look as I help gather up the eggs.

The lady whines in protest. "I know it's warm but nights coming fast and I can't protect you out here."

"We're all freezing our asses off please just get dressed, your eggs will be fine, but it isn't safe here. We need to get back to the ship," I say a little less courteously as I hand her her clothes but something doesn't feel right. She makes an offended sound which is followed by Din telling the child off for getting too close to the eggs.

I look back as he wanders off through the snow quite happily and keep half an eye on him as we keep collecting the eggs until my eye catches a different kind.

"Hey, no!" I yell as I jump to my feet and pick the kid up as he breaks into one of the eggs. "No!"

Then I look around at them all and curse. "We've gotta get the hell out of here!"

Din looks back at me just as a rumbling fills the cave and the eggs begin to hatch. He stands there stunned while I whip my saber out and start running with the child in my arms. "Come on!"

He grabs the frog eggs and by the time him and the lady are almost caught up to me at the cave exit we hear a deep growl.

"Not good," I whisper as we see it appear. "Not good. Run."

By the time they stop staring the kid and I are far from that cave and running through the tunnel back to the ship, the kid being my main priority. "Hurry up!"

"I'm trying!" he yells from down the tunnel and I hear blaster shots. "Just go!"

And so I do, only for a leg to break through the ice in front of me and without hesitation I cut through it with my saber just as Din catches up but it only seems to piss it off more.

"Don't stop," he says pushing me along as he throws explosives through the tunnel, and we hear them explode as we run but no matter how many of the little bastards we take out with our weapons there's too many.

"Got that flamethrower?" I ask clutching the kid to my chest as we near the end of the tunnel and he torches them, but even that's not enough.

We run into the cave towards the ship but there's too many for any weapon we have to take them out. Except for one.

And so I stop and face them.

"What are you doing!" Din yells but falls silent as I use the force to bring down the roof of the tunnel upon them, destroying the entrance to the cave we stand in and finally it's quiet.

I turn back to Din who stares at me in a mixture of shock and awe while the child looks up at me with those big wonder filled eyes.

" _That_ , is how you use the force."

Then I feel it. Slowly I turn and look behind us at the destroyed tunnel.

"What?" Din asks anxiously while the child in my arms whines.

"It's not dead," I breathe. "The big one. It's not dead and I'm not taking any chances. We need to get the hell out of here."

I don't have to tell any of them twice as we run into the ship and climb up into the cockpit.

Din jumps into the pilots seat while I hold the child in my lap and the Frog Lady cradles her eggs.

"Plan?"

"Strap yourself in," he says firing up the ship. "This better work."

Then I feel it. "It's coming, and it's pissed."

"Where?"

"I don't know but it's too close that's for sure."

He curses. "I've got limited visibility, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

He doesn't waste any time and there's a jolt as we lift off the ground, the heavy layer of snow covering the ship falling and for a moment we're about to take off until heavy weight forces us back down and we hit the ground with a thud.

The child lets out a shriek as one of the spiders legs pierces the windshield, followed by another, both narrowly avoiding Din.

I go to grab my saber but still when the beast peers in at us, and I realise it's more intelligent than I gave it credit for. Then it raises itself up and unleashes its mouth, suctioning the glass with its teeth.

"Oh no," I say jumping out of my seat and putting the child in Din's lap.

"Where are you going!" Din exclaims as I head for the door.

"To kill it before it kills us!"

He yells out in protest but I'm already halfway down the ladder and running out the hole in the ship when I'm stopped by loud, familiar blasts.

I stand there stunned with my saber in hand as I see Carson and Trapper shooting it and I watch as it collapses on the cockpit, dead.

Din comes to stand beside me and we stand there quite literally caught in the spotlights of their ships. He brings out his blaster and slowly I lower it back to his side.

"Hi guys," I say awkwardly, remembering that both of us have arrest warrants. "I am sure glad to see you."

"Thought you might need some help," Carson says looking at the state of the ship and the giant arachnid. "We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. Your friend here has an arrest warrant for the abduction of Prisoner X-6-9-11."

"No one's perfect," I say trying to laugh it off knowing that we are sorely fucked. "Would it help if I said I vouched for him?"

"Oh trust me we know, and possibly," Carson says, he's known me since I was eighteen. Ten years now. He doesn't want to bring me in and I know from those years spent on base after base that he trusts my judgement. Hopefully it extends to Din as well who he addresses. "Your onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm's way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps. Is this true?"

I look at him knowing he neglected to include that part when he was telling me about his prison heist but hopefully there'll be time for that later. But one thing's certain, even though he might have done bad things he's not a bad guy.

"Am I under arrest?"

"Technically you should be," he answers. "But these are trying times."

"And her?" Din asks, his concern taking me by surprise and I give them a hopeful smile.

Carson lets out a heavy breath. "Everyone who fought in the Rebellion knows you were right to kill those two Imperials. We know what they did to Alderaan, to Mandalore and countless other planets. To the innocent men, women and children of those planets. They escaped justice just as Moff Gideon did. The senate refused to recognise it then but they won't have any choice now. The situation is growing dire once again, we all know it. We need our best fighter in the field even if the Republic won't support her."

"So I'm free to go?"

He nods. "The Republic might no longer recognise your authority General but you have the respect of every soldier in the Rebellion, and that still counts for something. It might seem like the Rebel Alliance died the day the Republic was formed but we're still here, we still remember the dark times and those who fought against all odds, who disobeyed orders to save their troops. That fire still burns."

Tears fill my eyes and I feel the ring that bears the signet of the Rebel Alliance on my finger.

"We've heard there's outrage in the core worlds over these charges," Trapper tells me. "There's no doubt Princess Leia will ensure they're dropped. Until then I recommend you stay in the outer rims."

"Thank you," I breathe feeling like I might just collapse from relief. "Thank you."

I feel Din's hand lightly on my back to steady me. "What say I forgo the bounties on these three criminals and you two help me fuse my hull so we can get off this frozen rock?"

"What say you fix that transponder and we don't vaporise that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?"

Din tilts his helmet in a way that says fair is fair and they look back to me.

"Be careful General, we've heard rumours the Empire is targeting the heroes of the Rebellion which is likely the reason for these charges. Apparently Lando got in a scuffle with Imperials some at Cloud City and Han, well it's Han."

"Then let's make sure those bastards stay in the outer rims," I say and they both nod to me.

"As you order General."

With that the roofs of their ships lower and they salute me before they fly off.

"Well that went better than expected," Din says as they disappear through the hole we made in the cave.

"Far better than expected," I breathe, leaning into him and laughing as I look back at the spider slung over the ship. "What's that now? Two beasts in a week?"

"You didn't kill that one though," he points out.

"Well I would have," I reply and an amused sound escapes him. "Hey, I cut one of its legs off!"

"A leg, it had eight," he retorts and so I point to the collapsed tunnel with a smug little smirk on my face and he gives in. "Alright you win."

"Ha!" I laugh gleefully, feeling invigorated for once despite nearly being arrested twice. "You're impressed don't lie."

He looks at the ship. "I'd be more impressed if you could use the force to get that thing off."

I shrug and decide to give it a go, lifting my hand up and channelling my strength. Slowly it begins to slide off before coming to a halt, after a few tugs I give up. "It's stuck."

He sighs again. "Plan B then."

"You're still impressed," I tease and it's worth it when I can feel a smile tugging at his lips beneath that helmet.

We return inside to where the Frog Lady and the kid wait for us.

"All right. I'm gonna repair the cockpit enough for us to limp to Trask," he tells us. "There's nothing I can do about the main hull's integrity so we're gonna have to get cozy in the cockpit."

The idea of that doesn't sound too bad at all and despite our current predicament it's been a while since I've felt this optimistic.

"It's the only thing I can pressurise," he continues. "If you need to use the privy do it now. It's gonna be a long ride."

The lady excuses herself and the kid looks at the two of us, despite not being able to talk I can still hear him loud and clear when he notices that we both look like hot messes, or rather frosty ones.

"Well, at least we're all alive," he says looking around at the ship.

"And frosty."

"That too," he sighs only now just looking at his armour and sighing deeply before looking at me properly. He reaches out and touches my bare arm, his gloved fingertips sliding down to my fingers and inspecting them. "No frostbite?"

"I should be fine," I assure him as he picks up a blanket and wraps it around my shoulders. "If we get too cold there's nothing a flamethrower can't fix right?"

He chuckles at his own words. "Well there's one thing."

"Mmm?"

"This ship."

I just laugh. "Not to worry, we're still flying half a ship."

And he actually laughs as well. "Make yourself comfortable, it will take a while to do repairs."

"I'm afraid I'm not much help with that but I can keep the kid out of mischief."

We both look from him to the eggs and he just coos at us.

"Sounds like a plan," he says and his voice softens. "You're good with him, you really look out for him."

"I thought his powers would be the thing I'd end up worrying about, but no. I neglected to realise that I'd be looking after an actual child who's main priority is food. He's a good kid, just gets into a bit of mischief."

The kid makes a confused sound when I pick him up. "You heard me."

He reaches out to grab Din's finger and his large hand comes to rest on my shoulder as he takes a moment to dote on his son who smiles up at him.

And standing like this, with the kid in my arms and Din's protective hand holding me, feels more right than anything I've ever known.

~

Hours go by while Din repairs the ship and I keep the child entertained. Trying to get a better sense of what he's capable of but in the end I'm just keeping him away from the lady's eggs. I can almost hear my father laughing at my predicament. Once again I know I'll need some advice from Leia on raising a kid because it's definitely something I never planned on doing.

Finally Din returns seeming at ease.

"Okay repairs all done, let's see if we can get this thing going once and for all."

And we lift off. It's shaky and the giant spider makes it more than a little difficult but we get there. A few bumps as we fly back out of the hole we made but we do it.

We leave the atmosphere and finally settle back in our seats.

"Wake me up if someone shoots at us, or that door gets sucked off its rails," Din says letting his head fall back against the headrest. While I laugh at his dry humour the frog lady makes a concerned sound and he looks back at us. "I'm kidding. If that happened we'd all be dead." His helmet tilts in my direction. "Sweet dreams."

The words send warmth through my still freezing body. "You too."

His gaze lingers on me for a moment llonger and I let a smile spread across my face as he turns back to face the windshield and I realise a moment too late he can see my reflection in it.

Already I know sooner or later I'll be a goner, my money's on sooner rather than later.

~

A quiet beeping wakes us as we arrive at Trask after some much needed sleep. The kid's no longer in my lap but Din's, wide awake.

"Looks like we made it, get ready for landing."

The blanket falls from around my shoulders into my lap as I sit up straight, still groggy from sleep. Din looks back to me. "You ever been to Trask?"

"Fortunately no," I comment having heard enough about it. "It's main export is fishing and it's infamous for being a grimy little hole." The Frog Lady once again sounds offended. "Sorry, might be good for you but not for everyone."

"Don't worry, hopefully we won't be staying long," he says and I remember just why we're here. "Once we find the other Mandalorians there hopefully they can point us to your aunt."

It's then panic surges through me. How will these Mandalorians react when I tell them I'm Kyra Kryze, the Duchess of Mandalore? The Duchess many like Bo-Katan believe abandoned them when that couldn't be further from the truth.

How will Din react when he finds out since it's no doubt inevitable at this point? Would he even care? He still barely recognises me as Mandalorian, some title wouldn't make a difference to him. At least I hope not. 

"I should warn you that they may not be overly friendly when I give them my name."

"Why's that?"

"My family wasn't viewed quite favourably by some Mandalorians," I answer and he doesn't push. "Not to mention even now some still hold an ancient grudge against the Jedi.

His words calm me. "Well if anything goes wrong we'll take care of it."

At least I still have time to prepare to see my aunt again. When we find out where she is then we can stop and take a breather before I have to face her.

Before I can say anything else, elaborate, he bangs on the controls. "Dank farrik, the landing array isn't responding. Without the guidance system it'll be a manual re-entry. It might get a little choppy."

"Can't be any worse than the last landing," I comment as he continues flicking at the controls.

"Once we're through the atmosphere there should be enough fuel to slow down," he says before muttering. "If we don't burn to a crisp."

When compared to the thought of facing my aunt it's an almost comforting alternative.

"Hold on?" I ask knowing last time I didn't quite get a warning.

"Hold on," he confirms and I pull the kid into my lap and hold onto him tight as we descend but he quickly changes his mind. "Second thought get up here, I need your hands!"

I give the kid to the Frog Lady and jump up, stumbling to the front of the cockpit and having to grab his seat for stability.

"This lever needs to stay back!" he yells and I grab on tight to it as we continue hurtling through the atmosphere in a fiery descent. "That's it."

"Razor Crest this is traffic flight control," an frustratingly calm voice says through the com. "Please reduce your speed to port protocol."

"I'm trying my best here!" He snaps. "Engage reverse thrusters. Brace!" We continue to plummet and he warns. "Hold on!"

Din slams the coms off and then we finally still above the landing pad below. "Here we go, nice and easy."

But it's another moment of false relief as the ship gives out and we fall into the water.

At this point neither of us curse, we're just both utterly defeated as we sink and stare at the sea life passing by.

"Another happy landing," I finally comment and the sound that escapes him is a mix between a strained laugh and an exhausted sigh of defeat.

"Again," he mutters. "Our luck couldn't get any worse."

"Please don't jink us," I sigh in exhaustion. "I've had enough giant creatures and bad landings for one week."

It's then we're thankfully pulled out of the water onto the landing strip.

"I don't want to look at it," Din sighs and I know he means the damage. "I really don't."

"At least we made it," I say offering a pained smile. "Maybe not in one piece but we made it."

Now it's time to face what I've run from for seven years. Ever since the purge.

Other Mandalorians.


	9. eight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violence and peace.  
> Word count: 4.4k

We climb out of the ship and onto the dock, Din can hardly bring himself to look at it.

"How can I help you?" a dock worker asks and I look around unimpressed. It's just as grimy as I'd heard.

"Can you fix it?" Din asks as my eyes find the ship and know if that was mine I'd give up and sell it to junk traders or let Han take whatever parts from it he could.

"Fix it? Nah. But I can make it fly."

"Do what you can," Din says pressing credits into his hand while the kid follows us in his little pram.

We're walking aimlessly around the dock, just following the frog lady until she cries out and we see the husband.

She runs to him squealing with joy and they embrace. Din stands beside me as we watch them.

"Well at least it was worth it."

"At least she doesn't know about the eggs," he adds and looks at the kid. "We owe her this much."

And I watch them with a sharp pain in my chest as it brings back a different memory. One with a far less happy ending.

_He stood at the gates of Cloud City when I arrived, waiting for me._

_"Boba?" I cried out in shock and I ran to him without a second thought. Never slowing until my face was pressed against his chest plate and his arms were tight around me. "Boba."_

_"It's alright princess," he said as I allowed myself a moment of respite in his arms after all that had happened. After learning how Han and Leia had so narrowly escaped Vader, after leaving Dagobah after the fight with Luke and Yoda._

_After he told me my attachments would doom me. And he was right. But I was too stubborn to know it._

_"What the hell is the Empire doing here?" I asked as I started to come to my senses but not enough. Not even with Imperial ships nearby. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I wanted to make sure you were alright after your base was attacked, heard you might be coming here." He put a knuckle under my chin and brought my face up to look at him. "Chin up little one, it will be alright. I promise."_

Now I stand with Din, remembering the such blinding joy of reuniting with the one that you love.

But it wasn't love, not like the kind right in front of me. Enough years have gone by for me to know that now. Even if it doesn't lessen the sting of it.

We watch as they fawn over their eggs and so does the kid.

"I know you're hungry," Din says and I only just realise how long it's been since any of us have eaten, well except for the kid. "We'll get you something to eat."

The husband stands and grasps Din and I's arms, shaking them in thanks.

"You're welcome," he says then asks. "I was told you could lead me to others of my kind."

He nods and points to what looks like a Cantina. "The Inn? Over there?" Din asks sounding skeptical and I don't blame him.

They return to their eggs and there's something in the breeze that doesn't feel right, a presence.

"We're being watched," I say quietly to Din and he looks around too obviously. "No, just don't draw more attention to yourself. Keep going to the inn. I'll keep an eye out."

He nods silently and we walk to the inn with no trouble but I still feel uneasy. A Mandalorian is bound to draw attention but this feels different.

"Thank you," Din farewells them while I remain vigilant. We take a table and a worker comes up to us.

"What can I get you?"

"Nothing for me. A bowl of chowder for my friend," Din says and looks at me. "And for the lady?"

I could almost laugh at being called a lady if I weren't so on edge. "A drink. Something strong."

"These seats are scarce buddy, the lady can have a drink but you need to buy," he argues and Din brings out some credits.

"I can buy something else." The man looks at the credits and I continue looking around, knowing we're being watched but unable to find any danger or suspect. "Information."

He takes the credits and while Din goes to speak I stop him knowing I'm the more persuasive one. "Have you seen others that look like my friend here?"

And I see that glazed look in his eye as he answers. "Others with beskar have been through here."

He pours a bowl of chowder for the kid and Mando asks "Who can take us to them."

"I know someone who might help," he says but I don't trust him. We watch as he goes over to his friends and I hear him. "There's a Mandalorian and a lady, don't know her but she looks familiar. Looking for others of his kind."

At this point being recognised isn't anything new, my face was plastered over the holo news for years. The Duchess of Mandalore, a Jedi Master and war hero. That's a story for the media. It's only been the last two years or so they've laid off but considering the charges there's no doubt I've been on the news.

Perhaps I may just don my helmet again so I can avoid any confrontation.

"He was asking about passage, he's wearing beskar." Those last words concern me but before we can hear anymore we're both interrupted by the kids food attacking him.

"Ah, what the hell?" I exclaim reaching for my saber but realising that's probably not a good idea. "Din, can you please-"

Silently and with little reaction he pokes the squid with a knife and watches it flop back into the bowl. "Don't play with your food."

The kid and I both give him the same look just as the workers head back over.

"You seek others of your kind?" one asks and immediately I don't like him. Don't trust him.

"Have you seen them?" I ask sceptically.

"Aye," he answers and at least I know he's not lying about that bit. "I can bring you to them."

He has to be one of the most blatantly least trustworthy things I've ever met but Din doesn't seem to care.

"Where?"

"Only a few hours sail," he answers. "It'll cost you though."

"Cost what?" I ask quickly knowing there's always a catch but this one's a little more resistant to mind tricks than his friend.

"Not much," he answers. "Just some credits."

He gets up and leaves to let us decide and I whisper to Din "He's lying."

"Of course he is," he answers. "But if you want to find other Mandalorians this is the only way. And besides, a Jedi and a Mandalorian. If it goes wrong we can handle it."

"It's a trap," I tell him knowing by now to trust my gut. "And usually I'd have no problem springing a trap but something hasn't felt right since we got here, Din I-"

He cuts me off by placing his hand over mine. "It will be alright, I promise."

"I've heard that before," I mutter under my breath and he squeezes my hand.

"It will be," he says again. "You have my word."

I look at the workers watching us from a distance, just out of earshot and back to him. "Alright, but not because I trust them. But because I trust you."

His hand's wrapped around mine as we stand and one of the workers calls out. "Oi Mando, tell your girlfriend not to worry, she'll find her sea legs soon enough. We'll help her."

They laugh to themselves and he looks at me, waiting for permission and I feel the weight of my saber at my side. "When this goes south I get to kill them, deal?"

"Deal."

~

Several hours later we stand together on the ship, looking out at the ocean. With each passing moment feeling worse about this plan.

"You seeing any Mandalorians?" I ask him.

"No," he answers, finally beginning to feel unsure of this as well. "But if the lady's husband said they're here they must be."

"Not in the middle of the ocean," I comment, considering how to get all of us back to shore in one piece in case this goes badly. So far it's between the jetpack and taking the ship.

One of the workers approaches us with his spear. "You ever see a mamacore eat?"

"No, and we've had quite enough dangerous creatures for one week," I reply but he doesn't accept my answer.

"Are you sure little lady? It's quite a sight," he says but upon seeing the stubborness etched on my face looks to Din. "Your girlfriend doesn't like squid?"

I can tell he wants to argue with him but we both know it looks less suspicious this way. A Mandalorian with his slightly aggressive girlfriend, not a Mandalorian and a Jedi.

Din puts his hand on my back, not just to keep up the act but to calm me. "She uh- she's had a long week. Just wants to get back to the inn."

He looks between us with a suggestively. "Can't blame her, but I've got to wonder as a working man how much that fine beskar there would be worth?"

It's then it clicks for us both and we share a look, unspoken words between us deciding to play along for just a little longer.

"Nothing you could afford," I quip. "Once the Empire got it's hands on beskar it skyrocketed, didn't it honey? It's a shame that it can only be found on the black market or on a Mandalorian."

"A shame indeed," he carefully agrees eyeing Din's armour then looks to the kid. "It's time for the mamacore to get a feed, might entertain the kid."

Din nods and guides us over to it, keeping the kid at a safe distance as the worker continues. "You know lady you seem awfully familiar."

"I get that a lot," I reply as the grates open and Din's hand hovers over his blaster as the fish are released into the water.

"What did you say your name was again-" but he doesn't wait for an answer and I don't hesitate as he sends the kid flying over the edge.

Din's yell is stopped short and the crew stand there in shock as with one hand I use the force to hold the kid high above the water, out of danger, and with the other I hold my saber to the man's neck.

"Kyra Kenobi," I answer and see the fear in his eyes. "Jedi."

He doesn't get a chance to beg for mercy as I cut him down and the shooting starts.

But to my equal horror and surprise it's not just coming from Din's blaster.

Through the blur of my saber cutting through the men blaster shots fly past and Mandalorians surround me, only moments later there is silence and everyone is dead.

Except for us.

I find Din beside me with the child and he can see the relief on my face turn to the worst pain I have ever felt. The agony I felt when I was left in the ruins of Mandalore. The pain only your own blood can inflict upon you.

With no where to run, no where to hide, I face her.

"Bo-Katan."

She removes her helmet and I look into her eyes for the first time in almost eight years.

"Kyra."

It's silent except for the quiet hum of my saber.

Whenever I imaged seeing her again I imagined screaming, anything but this.

Silence.

"Where is Ahsoka Tano?" I finally ask her and she wears a bitter smile.

"After all these years that's what you say?"

"I have nothing else to say."

She steps closer but I move my saber just a fraction, a warning, and she stills.

"Would you really strike me down? Your own blood?"

"You disowned me the day Mandalore fell," I say, my voice unwavering as I wish it had been the last time we spoke. "The day you told me I was unworthy of the armour I wore and left me there on the battlefield."

"The day you abandoned your birthright," she retorts. "But then again, you did that the day your mother was killed and you ran off with rebels. The Duchess of Mandalore, abandoning her people to the Empire."

My throat tightens as I try to find the words and it's Din who breaks the unbearable silence.

"Duchess?"

My eyes don't leave Bo-Katan's as she looks between the two of us with a sick amusement.

"My niece was the ruler of Mandalore, Duchess like her mother before her until she abandoned it, and not just once," she says eyeing him like prey. "But any true Mandalorian would know that."

Din is speechless as he looks at me and Bo-Katan steps closer. "So it is you, the Mandalorian we've heard so much about, who never removes his helmet. The Child of the Watch."

Cautiously I look at Din and he remains silent as she approaches him. "Has the Duchess of Mandalore told you that you belong to a cult of religious zealots?"

"Enough." I say curtly and her attention is brought back to me. "We are here to find Ahsoka. That is the only thing I want from you."

"Oh no," she says shaking my head. "You don't get to send Mandalore to it's grave and then come asking favours after running like a coward. Running back to me after the Republic ate you up and spat you out. Look at you now, disgraced and running with a Mandalorian bounty hunter. But then again you always did have a type."

I can't hide the shock that crosses my face and she just laughs cruelly.

"Did you really think I never kept tabs on you after Mandalore fell? Imagine my surprise at hearing a Rebel General, a Jedi, was sleeping with Vader's right hand man. You ran from your guilt to the enemy, you abandoned your honour. Just like Mandalore."

I look at my saber and back to her, feeling a deadly calm wash over me. Years of anger, word's I wish i screamed that day in Mandalore sitting on the tip of my tongue. But I'm not the broken young woman I was the day she left me. I won't give her the satisfaction of a fight.

Slowly I walk until I stand in front of her, our eyes level.

"I never abandoned my honour. I never abandoned Mandalore. The only mistake I ever made was leaving it in the hands of a terrorist."

Her jaw clamps shut and her companions watch with wary, confused eyes while Din keeps a hand on his blaster.

"I'm sorry, are they unaware of when you overthrew your own sister and placed a Sith Lord on the throne of Mandalore?" I ask and watch the colour drain from her face. "A Sith lord who attempted to murder my mother, my father. A Sith Lord who I killed when I was just sixteen with the darksaber after he stole it from you and held me prisoner? A weapon I entrusted you with when I asked you to rule in my stead until I defeated the Empire so that Mandalore would be safe. A weapon you lost during the purge while I fought on the front lines, yet you survived. I never ran, I went sword to sword with Darth Vader prepared to fight to the death, but he had other plans."

Her throat tightens as those memories surface, and I show her just a glimpse of the horrors I endured at Vaders hand. "I never ran, I never begged for mercy. I suffered. And after I struck down squadrons of troopers and barely escaped with my life I returned to Mandalore to find it in ruins. Only for you to tell me I could not call myself Mandalorian, let alone Mand'alor. You turned your back on me, you abandoned me. Not the other way around."

I release her throat and relish in the shame in her eyes, the guilt. And I know when she looks at me now she doesn't see the young Jedi whom she turned her back on, but my mother's daughter. The woman who fought harder for Mandalore than any other, even as a pacifist. Who died for Mandalore.

And now after all those years of shame I see it too.

Without another word I turn my back on her just as she did all those years ago and return to Din. I don't need to ask as he silently wraps his arm around my waist and with the other holding the kid to his chest we take off.

It feels like a lifetime before we land and when my feet hit the ground his arms remains around my waist, steadying me, grounding me.

"Are you alright?" he asks carefully as I stare out at the ship.

"I have to be," I answer thickly. Despite the pain finally feeling a weight off my shoulders. "But none of that matters, we still don't know where Ahsoka is."

He turns me to face him, his hand still on my waist and although I can't see his face I feel how his eyes melt through me. "That doesn't matter, not now. We'll find somewhere to spend the night and deal with it in the morning."

I nod and find myself holding onto his arm. "Thank you Din."

"It's getting late, we should get moving," he says but my eyes remain on the boat. "We'll figure it all out later, I promise."

And I believe him.

~

Not many words are said as we travel through the town and as much as we'd both rather get out of here the ship's still being repaired.

We manage to find some half decent looking food from a street market and finally we come across an inn that only looks slightly sketchy and my mind is elsewhere as Din books a room, that lost in the past I don't even notice there's only one bed until he sighs and looks back towards the reception.

"It's fine, I doubt I'll be sleeping much anyways," I say knowing this inn was almost booked out anyways being one of the only ones deemed suitable by those from the core worlds. Knowing I won't be able to sleep after today.

Din sits the child on the bed and I stare out the open window towards the ocean, knowing that Bo Katan is still out there somewhere, and if I want to find Ahsoka I'll have to confront her again.

"I shouldn't have left," I say thickly. "Now we'll have to find her again."

"I can go out and find her in the morning if you want," he offers. "You and the kid can stay here."

His offer takes me by surprise. "You'd do that after she called you a religious zealot?"

"Well, I realised you've definitely got far better manners than she has," he says and my mind isn't the only one turning over. "As torn as I am with what I know now I'm glad I heard it from you."

"Well I couldn't have said it much worse than she did," I say knowing manners aren't her strong suit. "And Din, don't take what she says to heart. You might follow the ancient way but at least you were never a terrorist."

"There's that but I can't help feeling like an idiot now though, telling the Duchess of Mandalore she isn't Mandalorian."

While he's blindsided he isn't angry. "You aren't mad I didn't tell you?"

"It wouldn't have made any difference," he says coming to stand behind me. "It still doesn't. You're a true Mandalorian, whether or not you wear your armour, and not because of some title. A true Mandalorian is someone willing to fight and die for other Mandalorians, for their creed, even if ours may not be the same."

I can't bear to look at him because if I did he'd see the tears in my eyes. "All these years I believed what she told me, part of me still does, but when I saw her all the words I wish I said all those years ago came flowing out and I realised they were true. And so did she."

"Because they're true," he says and once again I realise too late he can see my reflection in the window, the tears that threaten to spill over. "I haven't known you long, but I've heard your reputation, heard the stories from Cobb Vanth when you were preparing to fight the Krayt Dragon. I was skeptical. But seeing you today- I believe it all."

My breath is shallow and catches at his words. I feel his hand on my arm, meaning to comfort me, assure me, but in the dim light I can't ignore how it sets me on fire. But not just my body, which is the most dangerous part of all.

And it terrifies me. It truly terrifies me.

"What she said Din, she was wrong," I say meeting his gaze in the reflection. "You are a true Mandalorian. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I've known many, and you're the best of them."

A barely audible breath escapes him and his fingers dig into my arm just a little more at my words. Although I can't see his expression I feel it. And it mirrors mine.

A dangerous thing indeed.

If it weren't for the child I could only imagine where this would end.

"I need some air," I say thickly as I turn to face him and his hand falls from my arm. Looking for any excuse my eyes fall on the untouched food. "I'll take the kid with me so you can eat."

He seems unsure but despite how stubborn he is we both know how long it's been since he's eaten and I know he won't take that helmet off with either of us here.

"Alright," he finally cedes and I almost flinch at the slight edge to his voice that I've left there. But there's no malice in it, only the armour that he uses to seperate us for our own good. "Be safe."

I offer a strained smile as I pick the kid up and without another word we leave with my saber.

As I walk out the door I curse myself for making the same mistake twice, even if my gut wants to fight me on it.

As much as I want to hate her that is the one thing Bo Katan was right about.

Another Mandalorian bounty hunter.

I can hardly breathe, the brave face wearing away as I walk by the dock feeling the sea breeze kiss my skin. Feeling the force surrounding me.

"Do you feel it?" I ask the child and from the way he reaches out into the wind I know he can. "The force."

And I ask it for clarity, for something, and in the end I receive the same answer as always. To search my feelings.

And I suffer the weakness of the Jedi, to fear them rather than embrace them.

To fear that type of pain, that type of love.

I hold the child tighter to my chest as silent tears fall down my cheeks and the child reaches up to touch my face.

"I'm okay," I promise him as his little hand wraps around my finger. "I'll make sure you never fear what you feel, that you never fear to love, you may just be the first Jedi to be free of that curse."

I can't stop the tears as the child nuzzles his head into my neck, trying to comfort me. The affections of a child the most pure of all and I understand how he so easily penetrated Dins armour.

"You're going to be my padawan," I tell him, now it's just the two of us finally being able to begin to process that fact. "Do you know what that means?"

He coos in response and I smile down at him, swearing that the child's touch alone takes my pain away. My fear.

"It means that I will raise you, teach you," I tell him but as I look into his big black eyes I decide on just how I will do it. "But not how most masters raise their padawans. I'll do it how my father raised me. How my mother raised me." My voice breaks. "How my aunt raised me. While it took a family to raise me it was my father who truly did. My mother had a duty, my aunt was there when I needed her but it was my father who's only duty was to me. I was his only priority. Just as your Din's. He's done an incredible job with you and if I can do half as good of one as he had then you'll be just fine."

It's then I feel him standing nearby, just in earshot and smile to myself a little. Knowing that while some boundaries I cannot cross there are other's which are inevitable, and I know he'll meet each at that line which we will cross together.

"And I know I'll have him to help me," I tell the child as he listens intently. "Because he wants the very best for you, just as any parent does. And once we find my friend we'll find somewhere to train you, somewhere peaceful. Would you like that?"

"He would," Din says emerging from the shadows and I look back at him.

"And you?" I ask him, feeling that same suffering within him that I've felt for so long. "How long has it been since you've had a moment of peace?"

"Far too long," he says and his words come out hoarse. "It's what the kid deserves. Peace."

"Peace," I repeat to myself, remembering the very purpose of the Rebellion which seems long forgotten. The purpose of the Jedi. "What have we fought for all these years if not peace for those who come after us? Dare I say we even enjoy it ourselves for just a moment."

He stands by my side and together we watch as the last light disappears over the horizon and we feel it.

Peace.

Even if we know it will be short lived.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a deep one.  
> Word count: 5.8k

It's late by the time we return to the inn, the kid's thankfully half asleep and he drifts off not long after Din puts him in his little floating cradle.

And with the kid asleep it's just the two of us.

For a moment we stand there looking at the cradle until he breaks the silence. "You saved him earlier. On the ship. I- I've never seen anything like it."

"A Jedi is nothing without their reflexes," I answer knowing how badly that could have gone if I hadn't been there. "And do you think I'd let any harm come to him?"

"I know you wouldn't," he answers and there's not even a shred of doubt within him. Then I can almost feel him shake beneath that armour as he asks. "Do you really think I've done a good job with him?"

I can't help the sad smile that comes to my face at his insecurity at being a father, something I've seen with Han since the moment he found out Leia was pregnant. "That child loves you, you are his father. I meant it when I said I hope I can care for him half as well as you have."

"And you were right," he says and his voice is unsteady. "When you said that I'd help you with him. That we'd do it together."

There are so many unspoken questions between us with no answers, and perhaps I don't want to know them.

"It's been a long day," I say stiffly as I feel it all catching up to me. "We should get some rest."

"You take the bed, I'll watch out for any trouble," he offers but I know that last part is just an excuse.

"Din, we're in an inn, we'll be fine. But if it gives you peace of mind you can bar the door."

And I watch as he moves a chair over and sticks it beneath the door handle, testing it. Then he looks back at me and clears his throat. "I'm going to use the refresher, you should make yourself comfortable."

It's hard to ignore the tension that lingers in the air as he passes by the single bed into the bathroom.

I'm no stranger to sharing close quarters after so many years on bases, half the time Leia and I would bunk together for practicality. Well mainly because she didn't trust herself not to have rendezvous with Han in the early days, but still for practicality. And I lived with Lando for months so being in close spaces with a man isn't new for me, but I know it's different for him.

My gut tells me he's the type of guy that doesn't stay in one place for long, and any women he's been with he likely hasn't stayed with. But not because he's the type of guy that doesn't care but because he's like me. Because he knows settling down is a bad idea. That with our lifestyle of roaming the galaxy as we please it's a sacrifice we have to make.

At least we have that in common.

After a while I hear the water running and lie down on the bed looking up at the ceiling, knowing that sharing a bed with Din is the least of my worries.

The thought of seeing her again, the sickness, it's only worsened. Today was a victory, but a hollow one.

My skin crawls at the fear that pounds in my chest, at the memories that I fear will never stop hurting.

_We stood at a firing range on Mandalore. For so many years they'd been outlawed but these were different times. Warrior clans from Concordia had returned as tensions with the Empire rose._

_My mother had no choice but to put aside her pacifist ideals while the Empire loomed._

_I was just eleven when Bo-Katan took me there without my mother's knowledge._

_"Have you ever used a blaster?" she asked me._

_"My father says that they're uncivilised."_

_She just laughed. "Your father says a lot of things, that doesn't mean they're true. That lightsaber is good for slicing people up but they aren't very good if the enemies not right in front of you."_

_"But he said I won't need to use my saber until I'm older?"_

_She held me by the arms and turned me to look her in the eye. "Kyra. Your parents are trying to protect you but they can't. Only you can do that. When they ship you off to Tatooine do they tell you why?"_

_"Because of disagreements with the Empire over beskar, because it's safer on Tatooine."_

_She shook her head and her fingers dug into my arms. "It's because you are a Jedi. You know what happened to them when the Republic fell, but what you don't know is that they are still hunting them down. You might just be a kid, but they'd hand you straight to the Emperor himself if they knew you were a Kenobi."_

_I felt unnerved. Sick. But it was what I'd always suspected, something darker than what my father would tell me._

_"So that's why no one can know who my father is?" I finally asked and she nodded. "It's why I can't tell anyone about my training."_

_"You're a smart kid, you always have been. You get that from your mom. Someday you will rule Mandalore but pacifism will get you killed. Get us all killed," she told me while my jaw clamped shut at the thought. "You will wield darksaber, it was crafted by the first Mandalorian Jedi. It is why I helped push your mom to let you be trained like a Jedi. But it's not enough. If you are going to rule Mandalore you need to be a true Mandalorian, not a pacifist. You need to be a warrior."_

_She then pressed a blaster into my hand. "Now, let's see what you can do."_

My aunt, who is easily the worst hypocrite I've ever met, cruel and lacking almost all empathy. 

My aunt who trained me to be a warrior.

My aunt who was there for me always, who offered to get me off of Tatooine and to take me with her and the Nite Owls. Who gifted me my armour.

My aunt who left me on the battlefield and effectively stripped me of that very armour.

I barely notice the shower turning off until Din steps out fully armoured much to my confusion and sees me lying there with the palm of my hand pressed to my forehead.

"You're thinking too much."

"You're wearing too much armour," I retort and he stops as we both realise how awfully sexual that sounds and I quickly elaborate. "Do you always sleep in that?"

"It's easier when you're on the move, safer," he says and my eyebrows raise, trying to disguise the fact I'm still cursing myself for making this more tense than it needs to be. But still unable to imagine how bad his back must be sleeping in all of that.

"It's safe if you actually want to take some of that off and get comfortable," I say meaning well but when he tilts his head at me splayed out on the bed I realise that anything I say will sound far less innocent than I intend. "I promise I'm not trying to get you naked, we just both need a proper sleep."

I swear I can hear a muffled choke beneath that helmet at my words but he chooses to ignore the more regrettable part of that statement while the best I can do is try not to clench my thighs together at how his gaze burns through me.

Eventually he clears his throat. "I've slept in armour since I was little more than a child. I'll be fine but thank you for your concern."

That's when I prop myself up on my elbows and look at him with furrowed eyebrows, the rest forgotten. "Since you were a child?"

"Ever since I swore the creed," he explains to me. "I haven't shown my face to anyone since then."

While I knew at some point he must have sworn to never remove it I hadn't imagined it had been when he was a child. 

"How many years?" I find myself asking in pure horror at the thought but I disguise it for his sake.

"Twenty five at least, probably closer to thirty," he says and what shocks me the most is that he's genuinely uncertain of just how many years of passed. That for almost thirty years no one's ever looked upon his face. "It was my choice, and I have no regrets."

A lie, even if he doesn't know it. 

"Din," I tread carefully. "What you're born into-"

"But I wasn't born into it," he says a little to harshly and calms his voice. "I was found. In your eyes they might be a cult of religious zealots but they saved by life and took me in. They gave me a chance at a better life."

And the greatest sadness is that he truly believes this is a better life, or perhaps the best he deserves. A life hidden beneath armour, afraid to even tell anyone his name. A life without warmth or a kind touch. In it's own way a life without attachment.

Something that feels all too familiar.

"I once heard my aunt refer to the Jedi as a cult of religious zealots," I tell him, remembering a fight she had with my father. "I saw the look on my fathers face. The Jedi took him from his family to give him a better life. A life of adhering to a strict code, one he almost left to be with my mother. The Jedi made him who he was, but eventually he became a general rather than a guardian of peace sworn to always obey the way of the Jedi. He raised me in the ways of the Jedi but without strict adherence to those codes. Then I met another, Master Yoda. I came to him a Jedi Master but in his eyes I was far from it, he told me my attachments would cause me nothing but suffering, and he was right. For a long time I tried to follow the ancient way, I travelled the galaxy searching for it, but in the end..."

I trail off and notice him listening carefully and meet his gaze. "I understand more than you could know Din. I understand what it is to make sacrifices for your religion. That for people like us it's not just religion, it's who we are. For you it's your face, your name, your very identity. For me it was my attachments, emotion, everything that completes a person and I became hollow. And the worst part is in those moments you do regret you have no one to blame but yourself because you refuse to walk away, or if you do like I did the damage is already done. I admire your strength Din, I know what it takes to live without such crucial parts of yourself for your faith, for your way of life, but you don't have to pretend you've never seen the faults in it. If you can't acknowledge the faults of your faith, the sacrifices you make, then you don't truly know what you stand for."

He contemplates those last words and is silent for so long that when he finally speaks it startles me. "How? How is it possible without losing The Way?"

And I look at the kid. "I lost The Way until I found you and the kid. It's a balance, one I still struggle to find. And perhaps that struggle never truly ends but if there is one thing I know it's that The Way, whether it be that of the Jedi or the Mandalorian, isn't the only way."

Now he's truly silent and I know he's reached his limit of how much reflection he can do in one night and I change the subject to the task at hand.

"Tomorrow, we find out where Ahsoka is and leave," I say sitting upright and swinging my legs off the edge of the bed but I know it won't be that simple. "I know Bo-Katan and there's no doubt she's keeping tabs on our movements. Hell, for years she kept a close enough eye on me she knew thing's no one else in the Rebellion knew aside from my family."

But that's the cruellest thing, Bo-Katan is my family. Of course she'd know. Anyone else in the Rebellion wouldn't have blinked at hearing I was seen with a Mandalorian, but Bo-Katan would've known better than that.

"The bounty hunter," he says and my eyes fall to the floor knowing he heard what she said about him, knowing he's smart enough to piece together who the armour in his ship belonged to. "You loved him."

Not a question, but a statement.

It takes me by surprise, surprise that he'd care enough to ask. An untouched wound that even after all these years my family wouldn't dare to touch. Even during those months with Lando he never dared say his name.

"I did," I finally confess, something I was never able to do. Not after Leia had watched the man she loved be frozen in carbonite and taken away, not after Luke had lost his hand in a confrontation with Vader. They knew but I was too ashamed to dare admit to it. "I was young and naive enough to believe he'd never betray me, then he handed me over to Vader with a blaster at my back."

_It's metal was cold and harsh. Though his finger only hovered over the trigger he may as well have pulled it._

_"I love you Boba," I said hoarsely and felt his grip on the blaster falter, but for only a moment. Even then it was just enough to make me have hope. Hope that despite the bloodshed and violence of his profession he was a good man. "You know that right?"_

_"It's just business little one," he said as tears stained my cheeks, hope shattering as I felt the darkness awaiting me through that door where Han and Leia were held captive. "I'm sorry."_

No tears fill my eyes now, there's none left to cry. 

"You still love him," he says and the words are a harsh truth. A truth that destroyed so much good in my life.

"And I hate him for it," I answer and say the words I never dared to speak. "I tried to settle down with a good man after the war, a good man who loved me, but I couldn't. I told him excuse after excuse but we both knew the truth. I was too broken to love him how I wanted too, and too afraid of ever loving someone like that again." And then the harshest truth of all. "And so I decided I never would again."

He's painfully silent and I don't even know what I want him to say. I just bared the ugliest parts on my heart to a stranger, something I haven't even been able to do to Leia after all these years.

Then I wonder if he understands, but not from my eyes. But from those of a bounty hunter. Of a man sworn to a life of bloodshed and violence for credits.

Knowing I'm treading dangerous ground I ask "Have you ever been in love Din?"

"No," he answers and the truth in those words break my heart a little, then more as I can feel that loneliness within him. "How could I when my life is sworn to the creed?"

His word's draw confusion in me, then something else. "Family is one of the most important parts of Mandalorian life, the creed forbids you to love?"

He gives a single, slow shake of his head. "No, but The Way is something an outsider could never truly understand, tolerate. Wherever I go danger follows, something you can understand."

"I do," I answer seeing through his armour. Nothing forbids him from loving besides his own code. It's something I understand far too well. "But where does the kid stand amongst all of it?"

We both look at him sound asleep, the vision of peace.

"Well, I planned to keep him safe until I could bring him to the Jedi," he sighs and looks at me. "It seems the plan's changed."

"You don't seem awfully opposed," I reply knowingly but then I feel the briefest panic flash through him and I realise he also took that the wrong way, unless it wasn't the wrongway ? I shake those type of thoughts from my head and get back on topic. "Once we find Ahsoka we'll have a better idea of where we're going."

He nods. "We'll find your aunt in the morning."

"How do you plan on doing that?" I ask knowing she won't want to be found.

"Bounty hunter," he answers. "Finding people's my job."

The strangest thing about him is that he is unlike any other bounty hunter I've known, he has a heart. A decent one at that. But with his skill set there'd be no better way to make a living, and times are tough. Even so I can't help the unease his profession brings me.

"Then we'll find her in the morning," I say sliding back on the bed with my head resting against the wall and raise an eyebrow. "You going to stand there all night?"

He sighs in defeat as he slides in next to me on the bed, while he tries to leave space the armour doesn't leave very much but I don't mind. 

"Goodnight Din," I say, the space between us filled with a strange new closeness neither of us had expected when we departed on this adventure. 

"Sweet dreams," he says leaning his head back against the wall but it's clear neither of us plan on getting much sleep when the events of tomorrow loom.

And so a silence settles over us, a silence filled with a new understanding and words both said and unsaid. A comfortable silence. Even so I can't help how my mind drifts to the quiet pounding in my chest at the tension between us that is unlike anything I've felt in years.

And something tell's me that he feels it too.

~ 

I wake, not remembering falling asleep. And certainly not remembering Din draping a blanket around my shoulders but the gesture warms me unexpectedly nonetheless.

"Din?" I murmur, my voice groggy from sleep as I turn over to find him still sitting up against the wall. "Did you get any sleep?"

He rolls his neck and I realise he must only be waking as well. His voice is far deeper than I could have expected. "Some."

Well it seems better than he's used to and I look over to find the kid still sleeping peacefully in it's cradle, only beginning to stir as light creeps in through the window.

It's peaceful for just a moment before that dread comes back creeping in.

I sit up in bed pulling the blanket with me, all the word's spoken the night before taking a moment to return to me and when they do they should be accompanied by regret. I would have kicked myself for days if I spoke any of that to Lando but finally it feels like those open wounds are beginning to heal. And as he faces me it gives me comfort knowing I wasn't the only one who was vulnerable.

"You want me to find her?" he asks and I have no doubt that he would and that he'd extract the information we needed but I know he can't.

"No, I need to do this," I sigh as the kid finally starts to wake. "But some backup wouldn't hurt."

~

And so we stroll through the town, careful of the hostile eyes on us. 

"Can you sense her?" Din asks using the word awkwardly, not quite understanding it, and I shake my head.

"Not yet, we should head to the dock, no doubt she saw your ship come in and she knows we'll be heading there eventually."

But when we come to the dock we find workers there waiting for us and armed.

Din rests his hand on his blaster. "We don't want any trouble."

"Really?" one asks as he approaches us. "You should have thought about that before you killed my brother, now I'm gonna kill your little pet."

The kid whimpers and I ignite my saber as a warning but before it can escalate any further a voice interrupts us.

"They didn't kill your brother. I did."

"Actually no," I correct her, happily taking the blame. "It was me."

And just like his brother, I don't hesitate and I sure as hell don't miss. As soon as I strike him down Din's blaster is out and the others fall within seconds.

And again I turn to my aunt who stands there with her Nite Owls, a group which I would have joined as a teenager if not for my father.

"I didn't need any backup from you."

"I know," she says almost apologetically. "But I couldn't let you leave, not yet."

"I don't plan to, not yet," I reply and once again ask "Where is Ahsoka Tano?"

She removes her helmet and the guilt in her usually remorseless eyes takes me by surprise. "Can I at least buy you a drink first?"

I actually laugh. "No. Bo-Katan we may be blood but we sure as hell aren't family. Tell me where Ahsoka is and I'll be gone."

She narrows her eyes at me as she steps forward. "Fine, but first there's some business that the Duchess of Mandalore might be interested in that we should discuss. One Mandalorian to another. Then I will tell you where Ahsoka is."

Now that catches my interest. "Business?"

~

And so we find ourselves in that grimy cantina nursing the strongest drinks we can find.

"Trask is a black market port," Bo-Katan tells me and I'm unsurprised. "They're staging weapons that have been bought and sold with the plunders of our planet."

"Is that meant to be news?" I ask knowing all about the black market trade. "For years I've worked with the Republic to try to regulate the illegal trade of beskar."

She actually seems surprised for a moment but returns to her usual self. "And how has that worked out, playing by the books?"

I take a long drink and she continues. "We're seizing those weapons and using them to retake Mandalore. Once we've done that we'll seat a new Mand'alor on the throne.

I still my drink and slowly set it down on the table. "Mandalore is lost, there's nothing to retake."

"That planet is cursed," Din says from beside me. "Anyone who goes there dies. Once the Empire knew they couldn't control it they made sure no one else could either."

"Vader had a vendetta, he made sure to fulfil it," I remind Bo-Katan. "Thousands of Mandalorian warriors couldn't save it, how do you think a handful can liberate it?"

She leans back in her chair and looks at me with amusement. "I once said the same thing to you about the Empire when you joined the Rebel Alliance. Where did all that fire go?"

"I fought to give Mand'alor a chance, then when it fell I fought to avenge it," I say leaning forward and looking her dead in the eye. "There is nothing left to save."

She raises an eyebrow. "What would Leia, your darling adopted sister, say if she heard that? Her planet is space dust and yet she still serves her people which are scattered around the galaxy. Your planet still stand's, I thought that you might be interested in saving what's left so Mandalorians finally have a place to call home."

And there it is. "Don't."

"Our enemies want to seperate us-"

"You did that yourself," I spit as I slam my empty drink down. "Perhaps if you hadn't stripped me of my armour, of everything I was willing to die for, then maybe I'd be willing to fight for your vain little attempt to liberate a wasteland but I won't."

My anger doesn't even phase her. "Mandalorians are stronger together. Hate me all you want, I know I deserve it. But think about what your mother died for, what you were born to rule. I trained you so you would be a warrior and here you are, the best fighter in the galaxy, and still you're afraid to return home."

And she presses on my nerves like only she can. Knowing exactly how to hit me where it hurts most. "I do hate you. More than anyone in this entire galaxy and that's saying something. And I know you are only sitting here swallowing your pride because you know you need me."

She raises a challenging eyebrow. "Fine, then lets negotiate. You and your bounty hunter boyfriend here help us on this mission and I tell you were Ahsoka is."

"No," I immediately reject and Din looks at me then to the kid, a silent reminder of why we're here in the first place. "I want a downpayment. Before I leave this grimy cantina I want to hear you for the first time in your life apologise, own up to the fact it was you who fucked up. For everything you did to destroy this family. From the start to the end."

And I know I've got her where it hurts most, her pride.

"Leave," she orders her companion who quickly vacate the cantina and I nod to Din and the child to do the same.

Once it's just us I pour myself another drink, waiting.

"Your mother would be looking just as smug as you are if she were here right now," she says pouring herself another drink as well. "I used to think you only took after your father, I could never see any of her in you but now I can. I don't know how I missed it but I did. You are more like her than you could ever know, except you have my violent streak. Hell you even have my hair."

I resist the urge to touch it, auburn like my fathers but there's no doubt it's brightness resembles her's, whatever genes bypassed my mother seemed to all land onto us both.

"She always said I took after you more than her," I say remembering her words well. "But my father told her that we were more alike than she could ever know."

"And for once he was right," she acknowledges. "It's ironic, it was my betrayal that brought them back together after all those years. After Death Watch overthrew her and put Maul on the throne I knew I fucked up. The moment I saw him wielding Darksaber I knew it. When I found out he was moments from using it to execute her do you think I didn't feel anything? It was after your father managed to save her that after all those years we finally began to make amends. And so did her and Obi-Wan but after his apprentice decided to go on a murder spree his priorities shifted to Padme and her children. We didn't know for certain but when Obi-Wan took her baby to Tatooine we knew the truth, it was around then Satine discovered she was pregnant. I ruled as regent while she hid her pregnancy to protect everyone involved from Vader. After you were born in secret she wanted to pretend you were her niece, just like she had before-"

She cuts herself off abruptly and I can't breathe. "Like she had before?"

She curses under her breath then looks at me hesitantly. "Your parents met when they were very young, he was just a Jedi Knight, she was the newly appointed Duchess. They were just teenagers, she didn't know she was pregnant until after he had left. No one knew much about our family so we were able to pass him off as being the son of our sister who died in childbirth, who never existed."

Shocked tears fill my eyes and she reaches across the table to take my hand. "Your brother's name was Korkie. He was killed by the Empire not long after you were born."

I can't even manage words as silent tears slip down my cheeks. "He was a good kid, he was just finishing his time at the academy when it happened. He - he was a perfect mix of both of your parents. Just like you are. He adored you, I don't know if they ever told him the truth but deep down I'm sure he knew. We all loved him and losing him broke your mothers heart. It's why she agreed to let you be trained, so what happened to him would never happen to you."

She squeezes my hand tightly to try to bring me back to reality. "When Darth Maul came and took you prisoner we were terrified. Your mother- I had never seen her so afraid. But imagine our surprise when we found you with Darth Maul dead on the ground and you wielding the Darksaber. Your father had never been more proud in his life and your mother, she knew and so did Mandalore that you were destined to rule after her. When your mother was killed you entrusted me with it and I lost it, you entrusted me with Mandalore and I lost it. I wasn't your mother, I could lead but I couldn't rule. It took me a long time to realise there's a difference. The moment you heard what the Empire had planned you came to Mandalore, you took power and issued the evacuation of the pacifist Mandalorians and organised the troops. You fought on the front lines while I lead the palace siege where the rest of the Mandalorians remained. I never saw Vader and no one that was down there on the battlefield lived to ever tell me. I thought you were dead. I searched for hours for your body then I find you there alive and I- I assumed the worst. I assumed the only thing that made sense to me. That you ran."

"And that made sense to you?" I finally reply and she lowers her eyes.

"After you joined the Rebellion I- well you know the things I said," she says then her voice finally wavers. "You never told me you were tortured by Vader."

"Three times," I answer hoarsely. "When my mother was killed, when Mandalore fell and then when Boba Fett betrayed me."

"Kyra-" Bo-Katan begins anxiously. "What I said about Boba Fett-"

"Don't ever mention Boba Fett to me again," I say with a harshness that shocks even myself.

Her eyes widen. "You really did love him."

"And I killed him." My voice quakes against my will. "I never want to hear you say his name again, understand?"

She nods stiffly and her eyes move to the door of the cantina where Din and the kid wait outside for me. "He seems like a better man and I'm sorry for what I said. If you love him then I'll try to keep my mouth shut."

That's when I choke on my drink. "I don't- I barely know him. He is a good man but it's not like that."

She looks sceptical. "Then what is it?"

"The child is extremely force sensitive, that much the Empire put a bounty on him. He saved the kid and I came across them on Tatooine-"

"What were you doing back on Tatooine?"

"Long story," I say not wanting to relive the reasons. "I decided to take the child as my padawan but I hardly wanted to take the foundling from him, honestly the kid would have choked me if I tried." Her eyes widen in disbelief. "I- I'm not kidding when I say that kid is unlike anything I've ever seen. Which is why I need to take him to Ahsoka, she might know something I don't or at least direct me on how to train a fifty year old super youngling."

She sighs and looks down at our joined hand's. "Help me with this and I swear to you I'll give you her location. Just one mission, please."

Despite knowing it won't just be one mission I nod in agreement. "Just one more thing, my brother- Korkie. I- I don't even know what he looked like."

That's when she presses a tab on her wrist guard and a hologram appears. "This shows our family line." She then opens into a small icon and then I see him. A holopicture of a man who must only be around eighteen to twenty with a baby in his arms. "I mean it when I say he adored you. If he had lived-"

Tears again fill my eyes and I have to look away. She closes the holopicture and the shock doesn't leave me. And I know it won't for some time. If ever.

"Alright, I'll help you. I just- I just need a moment."

And I get up and leave the cantina, pushing past the Nite Owls and walking around the corner into an empty ally, covering my mouth to muffle the sob that escapes me and I feel a gloved hand grab my free arm.

"Hey, where are you- Kyra?"

I slide down the wall until I'm on the ground, the cries that escape me coming from the most raw places within and I feel his hand on my back as he crouches down beside me. "Kyra?"

I can't speak, he knows I can't, instead he helps me to my feet and cups the back of my head as he holds me to his chest. My knees buckle and he keeps me standing while the wrangled cries are muffled by my hand, wet from tears. 

After all these years very few thing's shock me but this-

A brother. 

A brother who's dead. 

Din doesn't ask what happened in there, what she said to me, he just keeps me from collapsing in the street as the cries wrack my shaking body. Hold's me for however long it takes them to stop. Minutes? Hours? I don't know.

But when finally I can speak his gloved hand cups the side of my face and I thank him quietly, no other words spoken between us before I return to Bo-Katan who stand's there waiting and looks between the two of us knowingly. 

"Are you ready?"

I nod and Din keeps his hand on my back as she guides us to the port where our mission awaits.


	11. ten.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst. that's it.

We stand by the harbour, the kid happily sitting inside the cockpit of Bo Katans ship out of trouble.

Din stays by my side, a silent comfort, not questioning when I hold onto his arm to keep my hand from shaking.

However there is nothing in Bo Katans eyes that isn't questioning, even so she knows now isn't the time to push me, but I suspect that won't last long.

"You see that Imperial Gozanti freighter? It's being loaded with weapons as we speak," Bo Katan tells us and already I know if it's an Imperial ship I won't have a problem storming it. "According to the port's manifest it's scheduled to depart at first light."

"So we stow away?" Din asks, his idea a little more civilised than mine.

"We've been hitting them pretty hard," the Nite Owl, Koska I heard Bo call her, tells us. "They scan for life forms as a precaution before pushing back."

"If you want to do this with five, you're gonna need the element of surprise," Din says and Bo looks at me.

"We have a Jedi," she reminds him. "And don't worry, we'll have that as well."

"What's the plan?" I ask knowing she tends to go in guns blazing.

"The freighter will maintain trawling speed while inside the shipping lanes and then ascend into orbit. We'll get up when they're cruising in atmosphere. The tower won't allow them to climb until they've left the port's airspace."

"Troopers?" Din asks and a small smile spreads across my face knowing I'm in for some action.

"A squad at most," Bo answers. "Nothing a handful of Mandalorians and a Jedi can't handle."

"And they couldn't hit the side of a bantha," the man, Axe, comments and if there's one thing troopers are known for...

"Then it's settled," I decide but there's one thing we need to take care of first.

~

I hold the kid as we walk through the town. He knows I'm not alright and reaches up to touch my face.

"I'm okay kid," I promise him and he coos in concern. "Just a little shocked that's all."

"Shocked?" Din asks gently, an invite to speak not a demand, he likely assumed Bo Katan and I exchanged some harsh words which is true but the rest is unknown to him.

I swallow hard. "Bo Katan told me that I- I had a brother. A brother who my parents never told me existed," I tell him stiffly. "Not much shocks me these days but that-"

I can't finish and the kid nuzzles his little head into my chest and Din's hand brushes my arm.

"Do you know where he is?" he asks me and I blink away tears.

"The Empire killed him," I choke out. "She showed me a holopicture of him holding me as a baby it- I'm sorry it just sent me over the edge."

"I can't blame you," he says and gently holds my arm. "Especially considering how little's left of your family."

"I'm luckier than most," I say knowing he has nothing at all, nothing except for the kid. "Bo Katan is many things but she's the last blood I have. And that has to count for something."

"Only if you want it to," he tells me, knowing that family to a Mandalorian is far more than blood. 

"Thank you Din," I say and my voice is quiet. "For everything."

And he knows what I mean. His fingertips trail down my arm to squeeze my hand, a silent understanding between us. His hand remains wrapped around mine as he guides us to the Frog Lady's house. I don't know how he found it but like he said, it's his job.

He knocks on the door and she actually seems relatively happy to see us which is a pleasant surprise.

"There's something we need to do, can we leave the kid here for a little while?" I ask and they nod, inviting us in. "Thank you."

Din takes the kid from me and gives him a stern lecture. "You are gonna stay here, so I want you to be respectful and mind your manners."

He passes the kid over and nods towards the eggs. "You know what I'm talking about."

The cheeky little bugger knows but I doubt it will make too much difference.

"Please be good," I add and the kid coos at me. "We'll be back soon."

Din and I leave and look back at the house, he must feel my hesitation because he asks "Are you right to head back?"

I nod stiffly. "There's nothing that clears my head better than a fight and I have a feeling we're going to get one."

~

We watch the ship start to take off and sure enough there's troopers on board.

"I like these odds," Din says watching the small handful on the platform.

"Kyra, you use your saber to take them out so there's no noise," Bo Katan instructs. "We don't want to attract to much attention before we get inside."

"No problem," I answer knowing there won't be any, but a handful of troopers feels too easy for my liking. 

"See you up there," she says eyeing my lack of a jetpack and looks between Din and I suggestively then quickly takes off along with Koska and Axe. 

I look at Din and offer a small smile to which he reaches for my waist and with a surprising gentleness pulls me to his side. The feel of him is familiar by now and his grip on me tightens as my arms wrap around his neck, our faces close as they were before but this time something about it feels far more intimate.

"Hold on."

We jet off and the air is sprayed with seasalt as we ascend towards the ship. "Get me high and I'll jump down, take them out before you land."

"Because that worked so well the first time," he replies remembering my first failed attempt at killing the dragon and I laugh into the crook of his neck.

"It worked on the second go, but these are stormtroopers not a dragon," I retort and grin, already feeling the adrenaline of being so high up. "Let's do this."

And once we're high enough I jump down onto the platform with the troopers and ignite my saber, striking them down and clearing the platform by the time the others land.

"Shall we go in?" I smile as they see the bodies I've left behind and Bo Katan tries to open the door.

"Dank farrik it's locked, Koska can you hand me the-"

With a flick of my fingers I slide it open and while the other's stand there stunned at never having seen anyone do that before I invite myself in.

"Show off," Bo mutters and I just smile at her.

"You wanted a Jedi, you've got a Jedi."

Then I hear them running.

"One squad?" I question as she whips her blasters out but I throw the trooper that sees us against the wall, knocking him out cold, and deflect the blaster shots that come from the others who run down the hall, then a dozen more follow.

We take cover as we assess the situation but I've been in far worse.

I jump out and dozens of lasers fly at me, each deflected back at them and I hear the others firing from behind me and by the time the shots stop there's definitely over a dozen dead on the floor.

"One squad?" I repeat to Bo Katan and even she seems momentarily confused.

"Looks like they upped their security."

We head towards the cargo bay but as the door opens we find another squad waiting for us which are taken out in seconds before I can even reach them with my saber.

Their security is hardly a challenge but even so it's alarming.

"Bo, there shouldn't be this much security on an Imperial freighter."

"How would you know how much security should be on an imperial freighter?"

"Oh I don't know, perhaps the fact I've been wiping them out for a solid decade now."

She tilts her helmet at me in annoyance, even now that I'm twenty eight years old shocked that I'd dare talk back to her.

"She's right," Koska says and we all stop. "You know this isn't normal."

While Bo Katan seems offended that one of her soldiers is siding with me she knows we're right.

"Then what do you propose general?" Bo Katan mocks but I only point to the elevator with my saber.

"Kill them and find out what they're hiding."

Everyone seems on board with that plan and we enter the elevator and I can feel what awaits us. I flash Din a grin and he just shakes his head at me knowing how I get when there's a fight but I can feel the smile tugging at his lips beneath that helmet.

The door opens and the shots begin immediately but deflecting them back at the troopers is child's play and the second the officer registers my saber he's yelling at them to close the doors.

"Four Mandalorians and a Jedi. I repeat, four Mandalorians and a bloody Jedi!"

The doors shut just as we reach them and I look back for confirmation. "Cut it down?"

"I have a better idea," Bo Katan says and I can feel the smirk beneath her helmet as she reaches the controls for the cargo hold. "Idiots really think they had us trapped."

She presses a single button and we hear the screams from the other side of the door as they're sucked into the atmosphere and alarms blare.

With that dealt with we shut the exit to the cargo hold and enter, finding crates upon crates.

"Let's see what they've got," Koska says and they all pull their helmets off as they walk through the hold, going straight to those boxes, and I hang behind with Din.

"You could have taken this ship on your own," he says looking at my saber and I realise until now he's never really seen me use it in action, not properly at least. Even now I wouldn't say it was proper.

"I could have but where's the fun in that?"

He just shakes his head at me but I know exactly what's going on beneath that mask. "You know you're always absurdly happy after a fight?"

"It's called adrenaline." And like in the elevator I just smile at him and know he can't even pretend to disapprove. That the tough guy act doesn't work on me. "And come on, you're a bounty hunter, people like us thrive on it."

He can't argue with that and we watch as they pull the lid's off the crates and even I'm shocked by the weaponry they contain.

"Copy?" A meek voice breaks through a com dropped on the floor. "Do you copy."

"I copy," Bo Katan smirks as she picks it up. "Thanks for packing up all this gear so nicely."

While she's just thrilled to have found a treasure trove I'm deeply concerned about where this arsenal was headed.

"Imagine what a division of us could do when we get our hands on what's inside these shiny little boxes."

I inspect the contents of one and know these are brand new state of the art assault rifles, never been fired. Which means like I've always suspected there's still mass production of weapons in the outer rims, not just old Imperial blasters being sold on the black market. But even then this is more alarming than I'd anticipated.

The Republic might actually be interested to hear about this. I know Leia will be.

"If you think you're going to escape with these weapons you are sadly mistaken," a man who must be the captain says. "Even if you've managed to jettison a few of those crates we will comb the entire area until you are hunted down and killed."

And that's when I take the com from Bo Katan. "Really? I doubt that. Kyra Kenobi here, Jedi. You see what's interesting about what's in these boxes isn't their fire power. These are some shiny new weapons being mass produced by the Empire, something I haven't seen in years which I know the Republic would be very interested to hear about."

"General Kenobi," he says stiffly. "If you think the Republic will care about anything you have to say while you are under investigation for war crimes you are also sadly mistaken."

"Charges which will no doubt be dropped by the time I get anywhere close to the core worlds, and I think they'd be much more interested to hear about this breach of the Galactic Concordance. I know I'd have no trouble convincing Mon Mothma to give me a couple thousand soldiers and issue an air strike onto whatever facilities I order. That would really put a halt to production wouldn't it?"

"What are you playing at General?" he asks and despite his best efforts his voice wavers.

"Well, firstly we're going to take this ship," I say to which Bo Katan gives an approving nod. "Then I'm going to kill everyone on board this ship, but I think we've done that already, and take you in for interrogation. Let's just say the Jedi have certain tricks that Imperial Captains aren't trained against when it comes to these things. But considering my charges you'd know all about that. And when I find just where these weapons are being produced the facilities will be destroyed and so will any Imperial ships that try to defend it. The weapons right here in these shiny boxes will be distributed to Mandalorians, and they are just the proof I've needed to launch a wide scale attack on the Imperial scum hiding in the outer rims, so thank you for your assistance."

Bo Katan takes the com having never looked more proud of me. "Put some tea on we'll be up in a minute."

I go to inspect the weapons and Din walks over, his frustration taking me by surprise. "This is not what I signed up for."

"Mando," I say knowing the others can hear us. "For years I've been trying to find something the Republic will take seriously and this is it. So after we take this ship and the charges are dropped I'll be going to Chandrila, straight to the Chancellor."

He reaches for me and his voice is thin, desperate. "What about the kid?"

I put a hand on his chest to steady him and lower my voice. "I have no intention of abandoning either of you. We'll talk about this once we take the ship, just please calm down."

I can feel his frustration. He doesn't care about the Empire, he couldn't be more indifferent. The only thing he cares about is the kid.

But I can't say the same.

Bo Katan steps in and in typical Bo Katan fashion makes it worse. "Look, this is more important than the kid and there's something she'll need if she is to rule Mandalore."

We both whip around to look at her and now I'm the one who's pissed. "What? Where the hell is that coming from?"

She gives me a pointed look. "Kyra we will discuss this later but you know where your place is, you always have, and it isn't running with rebels and bounty hunters."

"My place is wherever I decide it is," I grit between my teeth. "And as for the Darksaber I wasn't the one who lost it."

"Which is why I'm the one trying to find it," she retorts. "We will take this ship and find out where it is so it's in the hand's of a Kryze. It doesn't need to be yours."

"I knew it," I laugh bitterly. "It's never help me get these weapons, it's let's go hunt down the dark saber and retake Mandalore. Guilting me into your mad pursuit, telling me about my brother and forcing me onto this mission with the promise you'd help me but no, just like always you have a vendetta. Everyone called my mother delusional but maker, you are something else."

"If you want to find Ahsoka and take out a couple of factories so you'll get a pretty little medal around your neck then you'll finish taking this ship," she says harshly. "I know you aren't used to taking orders but if you don't want to claim the title of Mand'alor you better get used to it."

Din turns his head to me anxiously, giving me a silent warning and with good reason, but I'm past that. I whip my blaster out and hold it to her head, immediately feeling two other pairs aimed at me.

"You're right, I've never taken orders from anyone and I don't intend to start now," I say adjusting the grip on my blaster and holding my saber towards Koska and Axe as a warning. "There's a reason I never joined this unit of yours. I've always been better on my own. Less bullshit."

"Kyra," Din warns but neither of us take notice.

"And it's why you'll always be alone," she tells me but before either of us can make another move we hear blaster shots from above and only a moment later the ship violently dives and we grapple onto whatever we can to stay standing.

"Shit!" I curse as I realise what he's doing. Cinder. "Get to the cockpit now!"

I push forward past them, my feet steadier then there's, only to be confronted with easily two dozen more troopers standing in the entrance to the cockpit.

"Kyra get back!" Bo Katan yells but there's no time. Not if we want to live.

I push forward against the assault of rapid heavy duty blaster fire but it's too strong to reach the troopers and take them out, and my saber is absorbing too much fire to deflect it properly. 

"Cover me!" I hear Din yell and focus on absorbing the blaster fire as he runs forward, launching explosives at the troopers. He grabs me and we hit the floor just as they explode.

His body covers mine as fire explodes through the chamber, the beskar that covers his body shielding us, and the moment it's clear I'm scrambling to my feet and running up to the cockpit with Din right behind me.

He pulls the captain from the chair and I grab him, pushing him against the wall with my saber to his throat while Din wrestles with the steering to pull the ship back up.

"Can't say I've ever seen a Jedi Master," the Captain says unafraid of my saber and I know immediately what he is. I came across enough of these captains during Cinder to know.

Bo Katan points a blaster to his head for good measure. "Where is it?" 

"Where's what?" he replies and I know he isn't planning to make it out of this alive.

"The Darksaber, does he have it?"

"Does who have it?" I ask in bewilderment.

The Captain decides he's going to go out fighting. "If you're asking you already know."

The ship finally pulls up and I look to see Din with his head back against the chair in relief and turn my attention back to the Captain as Bo Katan growls. "I'll let you live, but only if you take me to him."

"You might let me live, but he won't."

"Who won't let you live?" I ask but the moment his eyes begin to glaze over and he's about to answer he bites down hard and I jump back as he electrocutes himself. 

"No!" Bo Katan yells as hit body hits the floor and lies there alongside the two others he must have shot.

"We have to go," Koska says. "He sent a distress signal."

"Dammit," I curse as I walk over to the controls to see it for myself.

"Clear the atmosphere and prepare to jump."

Din's stands and goes to head for the door but I stop him with a hand on his chest. "Where are you going?"

"To the kid," he answers and the hostility in his voice makes my jaw clamp shut. "If you won't take him to the Jedi I will."

He holds my gaze and I swallow hard at the choice in front of me.

But regardless of of duty or whatever it is I may want, I made a promise to him and that child.

"Are you sure you won't join us?" Bo Katan asks him, clearly under the impression I'll be joining her.

"There's something I need to do," he answers and I shake my head.

"That we need to do," I correct and he tilts his head at me. "A Mandalorian keeps their word."

"You can't be serious," Bo Katan says to me. "What is a single child worth when compared to Mandalore?"

My eyes remain on Din. "The child is my padawan, it's worth everything." His shoulders relax and I look back at my aunt. "A deal is a deal, where is Ahsoka."

She hesitates but finally gives in. "Take the foundling to the city of Calodan on the forest planet of Corvus. There you will find Ahsoka Tano."

I nod and go to leave but she grabs my wrist. "Kyra, whether you like it or not you have a birthright, a claim. Take care of your padawan, but you know you can't run forever. You won the Darksaber in combat all those years ago, it is still yours by right." She knows I'm not a child she can bend to her will anymore, and now she is desperate. "When you are ready the offer still stands, you will know where to find us."

Reluctantly I nod and she releases her hold on me, and we bid farewell once again. "This is the way."

"This is the way," I return and leave without another word, Din following behind.

We return into the cargo hold and I pick up a rifle to inspect. "I'll need to bring one of these back to be forensically examined, and take a holofilm of the rest. Actually security tapes, I need security tapes."

I expect him to be half angry still about it all then I feel his hand on my arm. "You need to clear your head."

"It is clear," I snap a little more harshly than I intended.

"You pulled a blaster on your aunt."

"It was past time I did that," I mutter but I know he's right. Everything is clouding my vision. "I know I'm unhinged Din, but here I am. I made a promise to you and the kid so please don't-"

He holds me by the shoulders and I trail off, my eye's pressed shut as I try to block it all out and hear him telling me to breathe. "Stay here, I'll get those tapes."

"Thank you," I say quietly and take a moment to calm myself as he disappears to go back to the cockpit, cursing myself for being so damn emotional. I don't know what's gotten into me these past weeks but it's not right. 

He returns and presses a tape into my hand along with a small disk. "Your aunt said she wanted you to have this. Said it might bring you some peace."

I nod stiffly and put it into my pocket to be looked at later. "Thank you."

"She also said we don't have long, so we better get whatever you need and get out of here." The way he says it tells me its a direct quote from Bo rather than his own bitterness. 

I pick up a rifle, the most high powered one I can find which I know the forensics team will find interest in. "That should be it. I can edit the tapes and with this then I should be able to make a case."

He nods but doesn't comment on it as I sling the rifle over my shoulder. Not another word is spoken as we make our way through the ship and to the platform outside where we are considerably further from the port than we were when we landed. 

Silently, he wraps his arm around me and we take off, the tension between us leaving a sick feeling in my stomach until we land and I know I need to give him peace of mind.

"Din," I say before he removes his arm from my waist and I rest a hand on his chest, wanting him to believe me. "I wasn't going to leave with her, and I sure as hell wasn't going to leave you or the kid. And I don't intend to. The bond between a Jedi and their Padawan is just as sacred as that of a Mandalorian and their Foundling."

"But he's not your only priority," he says and his voice is absent of hostility but that doesn't mean it sits right with me. "Your aunt- she was right. If you want to help her retake Mandalore I won't stop you, I'll understand, just please, help me get this child where he needs to be."

And he's almost pleading at this point out of desperation for his son. "Din. I am not going to leave the child, I made a sacred promise to him that doesn't just end when it's convenient for me. If things change and I decide to stake my claim then even then I have no intention of abandoning the child. And what I said about Chandrila- I wouldn't be going off to war for months to die. I'd go to the city and speak to the Chancellor, give her the evidence of what the Empire is doing and recommend a course of action, perhaps oversee it if that's what she'd request but no part of that means leaving the child. He would come with me."

He's silent as we both realise what the core of this issue truly is. "The only question is if you'd be willing to do the same?"

If he'd come with me to Chandrila, to wherever the hell this mess brings us next. I feel the uncertainty in him as he takes in my face, deciding if this is worth it, if I'm worth it. For not just the child, but for him as well.

"I would," he finally answers and I let out a breath of relief, able to feel his racing heart even beneath the beskar. "As long as the child would be safe."

"You have my word," I promise him and his hand comes to cover mine which rests on his chest, clasping it in his, and only then do I become truly aware of the embrace we stand in.

"Then it's settled."

But whatever this is feels far from settled. The tension between us dancing a thin line between distrust and something far more dangerous. 

Slowly he releases me from his hold, the cold air replacing his warmth that my body yearns for. The hardness of his beskar more welcoming than even the softest flesh. 

And as we walk back through the port it finally dawns on me just how truly fucked I am.

~

We arrive at the house and despite our mutual fear of the kid deciding to devour the last of a species as a snack he's thankfully just playing with the hatched offspring.

"Thank you for watching him," I say and they almost seem sad to see him go.

Din tries to lift him up. "Come on kid it's time to go." The kid fights against him, not wanting to leave his new little friend, or snack. It could be either, or both. "Let go. Come on kid."

Din wrestles the kid into his arms who whines, tired from his long day.

"Congratulations," I say to them as we head for the door and the kid keeps oh whining as he looks over Din's shoulder.

"No, I have enough pets."

I shake my head at them both and the kid reaches for me, the one who's not telling him off.

"Someone needs a nap," I say taking him from Din's arms and the child nuzzles his head into my shoulder, already starting to fall asleep. "That's it kid, go to sleep."

Din watches the two of us and with my eyes I try to make him understand I wouldn't leave, because despite his words I can still feel the doubt in him. Until now. Until he sees me with the kid and it all feels real again, to us both.

~

Finally we return to the ship and it doesn't look much better then when we crashed it in the ocean.

"I gave you a thousand credits, this was the best you could do?"

The worker shrugs and Din just sighs and signs off on it.

When we return the inside somehow looks worse than before, or perhaps that's because we avoided looking at it after they hauled us out of the ocean and into the port.

Either way we try to make ourselves comfortable. I sit in my seat with the sleeping kid, feeling the rifle slung over my shoulder digging into my back but I can deal with that once I find somewhere to lie the kid down.

"Mon Calamari," Din mutters to himself as he starts firing up the ship. "Unbelievable."

The ship starts suddenly with a jolt and some splutters but thankfully it lifts off and the kid stays asleep. I watch an octopus looking creature crawl up one of the cables inside the ship and use the force to flick it away only to be surprised when Din catches it.

"Better save that for the kid, he'll be hungry when he wakes up."

"He's a kid, he's always hungry."

He looks back at us and I can feel him soften as the tension leaves his body.

"He has a little hammock in my sleeping compartment you can put him in," he tells me and I can feel his eyes looking me up and down. "You've had a trying day, you should get some rest as well. Take the cot and I'll pilot us out of here, the ship probably shouldn't be left on nav in case something malfunctions."

And that's another thing I've noticed. Every kind action he quickly covers up with a practical reason for it, even though they are just after thoughts, excuses to cover his true intentions. To hide the good heart beneath that armour.

"Thank you Din," I say grateful for it and I stand with the kid in my arms and head to the door.

"There should be some blankets beneath the cot," he says then suddenly sounds embarrassed, guilty even. "I'll apologise since it's not the most comfortable-"

"Din," I say with a calming close lipped smile. "I might be a duchess but I'm a soldier. You don't know how many nights I spent sleeping on wet and rocky ground of warzones or on the floor of overcrowded ships or hunched over in cramped x-wings. I've learned to appreciate any place that's safe and quiet with a roof over my head, after all these years a blanket is a luxury."

Something about that seems to surprise him, that despite my birth my life hasn't been one of warm beds and plush pillows.

He nods and for a moment lifts his hand as if he means to reach out to me but withdraws it. "Sweet dreams Kyra."

"You too Din," I smile sleepily and I go below deck to the sleeping compartment.

What concerns me isn't any sort of lack of comfort but solely the fact he's cramped himself into there for so many years, it's beyond me how he can even fit in there with all the armour.

I tuck the kid in his hammock and remove the assault rifle from my shoulder, placing it on the ground nearby and remove the tape from my pocket, placing it in a small compartment shelf. Then I pull out the disk Bo Katan gave Din.

For a moment I consider just putting it there as well with no intention of opening it but I know I have to.

Sure enough it contains the same holopicture of my brother, Korkie. She must have downloaded it from the hard drive in her armour onto this.

And he truly does look like a perfect mix of my parents, just as I do. For his own sake I pray he didn't inherit whatever Bo-Katan and I did but just from looking at him I know he must have taken after my mother. He has that regal demeanour about him.

He would have been the heir to Mandalore before I was, even if he was only my mothers nephew officially. Now it all makes sense. Why my mother was always so protective, why she hid me whenever the Empire came anywhere close to Mandalore.

And it breaks my heart.

I close the image and place the disk back into my pocket, to hold it close to me. I do not know how to mourn the death of a man I cannot remember, but I mourn what I could have had.

And even the smallest memory I have of him in that image I hold dear, grieving as I learned to all those years ago.

And I release that pain.

With my mind clear I climb into the sleeping compartment, pulling a blanket out from beneath to cover myself. It's strange sleeping in another's space but knowing it's Din's brings me a strange comfort. 

Enough comfort my body allows me to drift to sleep, the conflicts that will no doubt stay with me for long to come disappearing if only for a night.


	12. eleven.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nightmares, bickering like an old married couple and crisis

I'm woken by soft whimpers and I know something isn't right. I sit up and find the kid awake in his hammock with his eyes pressed shut and making sounds of distress.

"Hey, it's okay," I say taking him in my arms and he buries his face in my shoulder. "Did you have a nightmare?"

He whimpers a confirmation and I can feel the terror that's shaken his poor little body. Something far deeper than the normal nightmares that plague a child.

"You're safe," I tell him and hear Din come down the stairs as I scoot to the edge of the cot where he crouches down in front of us. "Your dad and I would never let anything happen to you. You're safe with us."

Din removes his glove and reaches over so the kid can wrap his hand around his tan finger. "It's okay kid. You're okay."

The sight stuns me for just a moment before I move onto the floor so there's room for Din to sit beside me and the kid, so he can reach us both.

The child whimpers as holds Dins finger tightly and I cup the back of his head, feeling darkness but none that comes from within him. But from a deep trauma inflicted upon him.

Something I know far too well.

And I manipulate the force around him, within him, driving out the darkness with the light. "Feel it, feel the light. Feel it surrounding you. Protecting you."

His breathing begins to calm and I sing to him softly, an old Mandalorian lullaby, as I soothe him back to sleep. Din looks at me also stunned, having never heard me speak Mando'a before.

With his father and I holding him, the drifts off back to sleep and his grip loosens around Din's finger.

"Thank you," Din says quietly but even now the child's asleep I can feel his concern and it matches mine.

"Has he had nightmares before?"

"Sometimes, but not often," he answers. "I don't know how to help him, I know I sound paranoid but I don't think they're just what a normal kid has nightmares about."

"He's not a normal kid, and you're right Din," I say rubbing the child's back. "I can feel trauma within him, I don't know what from but I can imagine. The Jedi... for so long we were hunted down and killed by inquisitors. Once they even came for me when I was sixteen, when they first began to suspect who my father was after I was kidnapped by a Sith Lord who'd figured it out. I know more than most about what they'd do to force sensitive children but I think this stems past that."

"What do you mean?"

"Order 66," I answer quietly. "The order to exterminate the Jedi. He is fifty years old, with the abilities he has he would've had to have been in the care of the Jedi. I can't say for certain what he's seen but I know it's dark."

He strokes the kids ear with his thumb and I can feel the sickness in him at the thought of anyone harming the child. "I'd do anything for him, but I just don't know how to help him. I don't understand all this Jedi stuff, the force."

I cover his bare hand with mine and hear the sharp intake of breath but he doesn't withdraw it or make any indication it's unwelcome. 

"That's why I'm here Din. I've seen what this is like to someone who doesn't understand," I say thinking of Han. "For someone who has never had anything to do with the force to raise one like him, it's hard, but don't doubt yourself."

He looks down at our hands and at the kid, then back to the sleeping compartment. "You should try to get back to sleep."

"It's alright, I don't want to disturb him," I say looking down at the sleeping child in my arms/ "I'll stay out here."

He stands but doesn't go to the cockpit, he reaches into the sleeping compartment and pulls out a blanket. Time seems to move slower as he walks back over to us and crouches down, draping the blanket around the child and I. The simple action saying more than words ever could.

"Thank you," I mouth to him and can feel the tension within him melt away, able to feel his body's reaction beneath that armour.

He goes to leave but pauses as the child reaches out to him, even in his sleepy state able to sense his distance. I look up at Din and he sighs as he comes and sits beside me once again, checking the kid over.

He moves away a little and for a moment I'm confused until he removes the beskar on his shoulder so I can lean more comfortably against him. And as sleep again begins to take me my head rests on his shoulder, able to feel the soft warmth through his shirt, and the last thing I'm aware of is his bare hand brushing my own and squeezing it softly.

And he must think I'm already asleep because I swear I hear him whisper to me, so quietly I may have imagined it.

"Sweet dreams Mesh'la."

~

I wake again in the sleeping compartment and sit up in a state of confusion knowing that's definitely not where I fell asleep, unless what happened was just a dream.

As it all comes back to me it feels like the most plausible conclusion.

I check the little hammock and realise Din must have the kid, so I take the opportunity to use the shower on board. As expected it's a small sonic shower built into what I imagine was once a closet but it does the job.

If there's one thing I learned as a soldier it's to sleep and get yourself cleaned up whenever the opportunity strikes. Some habits stay with you.

I look at my hair which I usually wear neatly braided but decide to just leave it loose for once knowing we'll likely just be sitting in the cockpit. For once not wanting to be dressed for war.

When I'm decent I climb up to the cockpit and I'm confused by the sight in front of me. Din on his knees peering into a little door.

"Din. Where's the kid?" I ask and he looks at me like he's been caught red handed. "I swear if you tell me he's in there-"

He gives me an apologetic shrug and I stick my head in to see the kid holding wires.

"Din Djarin," I scold and he actually jumps at the sound of his full name. "A child should not be playing with wires!"

"He's fine, he knows what he's doing," he assures me and raises his hands in his defence as I raise a single warning eyebrow. "He had a good sleep so he'll be fine."

"He had a good sleep?" I question still not completely sure if last nights was a dream.

"Yeah, after you put him back to sleep he woke up before you did so I put you back in the cot. Figured you'd be more comfortable," he elaborates and I still, trying to hide the panic on my face as I realise last night actually did happen.

"I don't remember waking up?" I question still quite confused and little panicked.

"You were out cold, you needed the sleep, didn't want to wake you up," he says and I realise he must have picked me up and stuck me in there. "I'm surprised the kid didn't wake you up when he was running around earlier."

The kid coos from inside the little tunnel and for a moment I'm genuinely concerned my senses aren't quite as attuned as I like to give myself credit for.

"So am I," I say, wondering how long I've been out for but after these past days with Bo Katan I can't quite blame myself, Din even said himself that I needed the rest.

Then another memory strikes me so hard a small noise escapes the back of my throat.

_"Sweet dreams Mesh'la."_

"You okay?"

"Absolutely fine," I say a little too quickly and just as quickly change the subject. "Now what the hell is the kid doing in there?"

I can almost hear his silent cursing as I get back to the current situation, thinking he'd distracted me from it, and he sticks his head back through the hole.

"Did you get the wire out? The red wire?" I stand there with my arms crossed watching him in disapproval.

"Huh?" we hear from in the tunnel and it's the most solid and most fitting word I've ever heard the kid say.

"Din he's a kid, not an electrician."

"He's a Jedi," he says looking up at me in sheer sweet ignorance. "Can't the force help him?"

I honestly can't even be mad at this point as I laugh. "That's not how the force works."

"Then what is it good for?"

I just shake my head at him in exasperation but I can't help the smile I have to supress and he sticks his head back through the little door. "No, no, no, the red one. Show me the red one."

"Does he even know colours?" I ask Din and he looks at me like I'm the idiot in this room.

"Of course he knows colours."

"He can't even make a coherent word how do you expect him to know colours?"

"I don't know, he's fifty years old! And don't kids just know this stuff?"

"I don't know!"

We both just look at each other and sigh realising there's a lot neither of us know about kids. We'd protect him with our lives but we don't know the first thing about teaching him actual kid stuff.

Teaching him how to lift a ball is easy, teaching him to talk and read... I need Leia. It's past time I got in contact with her considering those charges but I don't have any way to.

"The red one," he repeats and I scoot in beside him so we can both peer into the tunnel. The kid holds up the red wire. "Yes good."

Din looks at me and I can feel the smug little look on his face beneath that helmet. "See, he knows colours."

I squint at him. "Yes, but not complex wiring."

"It's not complex," he retorts and I can't help but gape at him. "Now , you're going to plug that red wire where the blue wire goes in the board."

The kid looks at the two wires in his hands and coos in confusion.

"Put the red wire where the blue wire goes in the board," Din repeats. "Okay?"

"No, not okay."

He has the audacity to hush me as the kid waddles to the wire board. "But don't let them touch."

The kid looks back at us and makes another confused sound.

"You see where you took the blue one off?" Din asks while I'm just shaking my head at him. "Yes now put the red one- no, don't put the blue one back. Put the red one where the blue one was, and put the blue one where the red one was."

The kid starts getting a little overwhelmed and looks between the two wires in his hands like he's given up.

"They're oppositely charges, so keep them away from each other," Din tells him. "No, hold them apart, no-"

The kid and I both let out a shriek as they touch and smoke fills the tunnel.

"Kid?" I call out nervously but he's not dead so that's a good sign.

"Are you okay?" Din asks and the smoke clears enough for us to see him cough, looking more offended than anything else.

"Come here kid," I say and he waddles towards us while Din just sighs disappointment.

"Well it was worth a shot."

I pull the kid out and cradle him in my arms giving Din a very specific look, one my mother often gave to my father.

"Alright, alright," he says raising his hands. "You were right, but so was I."

"Were you now?" I test and this might be the most afraid I've ever seen the Mandalorian and with good reason.

"He knows colours."

I want to be mad, but again I have to suppress a smile as I shake my head at him and he helps me to me feet, offering what I know is an awkward smile beneath that helmet.

"Breakfast?"

~

The kid and Din look quite the pair as they sit beside each other with their bowls of soup.

"You want me to take the kid up to the cockpit?" I ask so Din can actually eat on his own.

"It's alright," he says and I avert my gaze as he tilts his helmet back just enough to be able to drink it, something I know he notices.

He also notices how quickly I down my soup and asks "Habits of a soldier?"

"Better get used to them," I reply with a cheeky smile, still trying to cover up how I panicked earlier.

While I didn't imagine the kids nightmare and falling asleep on Din's shoulder I was still tired enough I could have misheard what he said or imagined it. But it was a little too specific for even me to make up.

_Mesh'la._

A Mandalorian term of affection. Beautiful.

It's been years since I've heard it used, years since I've even heard anyone speak Mando'a.

Even in my sleepy state it's the last thing my mind would make up.

From how he's acting he either didn't say it or thinks I was out cold when he did.

My gut tells me the latter.

"There's no way we're making it to Corvus in this shape," he says and I look away as he again lifts up his helmet by just a fraction, even if I looked I know I'd only see his jaw at most but even then it would feel like a violation of his privacy. Seeing his bare hand last night felt scandalous enough, even knowing the colour of his skin feels like too much.

I had found myself wondering in rare quiet moments what is beneath that armour, but I only want to know as much as he wants me to. Anything else feels wrong.

"I think we need to visit some friends for repairs."

"Friends?" I ask and immediately I know it comes out the wrong way but he plays along.

"Believe it or not I do have some, on Nevarro," he tells me. "One's an ex-trooper, a rebel one, not Imperial. You'd like her."

Her.

I'm glad my gaze is already averted because I never would have been able to hide the impact that single word has on me. I've never been the jealous type, hell Lando would flirt with anything that moved without realising it, which is why I'm surprised that I'd even care about an old friend of Din's. But then again, it's always been the not knowing that makes me uneasy. Even then I shouldn't care.

Despite how I try to rationalise it, I can't deny that some part of me does care. Enough so Din must also notice my momentary silence.

"Glad to see your keeping good company then," I comment casually to play it off. "I wouldn't be very happy if you were taking me to meet Imperials that's for sure."

"I'm not stupid enough to ever put you in the same room as an Imperial," he says also trying to play it off but there's an uneasiness in his voice that makes me curse having even the slightest reaction. A stupid reaction all things considered.

Why should I even care? It's not like I'm his wife. Or anything even in the same system as that. I'm- I don't know what I am. An associate? A friend? If anything I feel more like I'm a co-parent. There's nothing about this situation that can be easily labelled.

"I've never been to Nevarro," I continue making sure to keep my voice light but it comes off giddy. "How is it?"

"I'll be surprised to see if it's still standing."

The latter part of that answer takes me by surprise then I remember something from the first time we ever spoke.

"Nevarro," I repeat as I turn to look at him properly. "It's where your covert was."

He gives me a single nod. "And the Bounty Hunters Guild, but the man who ran the Hub's apparently gone legit."

"So Nevarro was your home?" I ask and the question takes him a little while to answer.

"For a while I suppose you could have called it that. But this ship's all I've got now."

"There's nothing wrong with that," I say knowing the Falcon will always be Han's home. Like this ship is Din's. 

I want to ask more about his Covert but I know that's not a question he's ready for. Or perhaps ever will be. While I've been a relatively open book when a topic arises I know Din's identity, his secrecy, is important to him. Just like his choice to wear his helmet it's something I respect.

"I'll set the course for Nevarro," he says standing and stretching. "It shouldn't take to long, then once the repairs are done we'll make our way to Corvus."

"Always on the move," I say to myself and look at the kid. "You know colours but do you know numbers?"

~

By the time we arrive at Navarro Din and I have exhausted the poor kid with all our questions, bickering over what he does and doesn't know.

"His knowledge is perfectly fine," Din tells me as we make our way through the ship.

"He's fifty and can't talk," I retort to which the kid makes an offended sound.

"Give him time."

"It's a bit premature to teach him how to use the force if he can't talk, or read for that matter."

"He knows what he's doing," he promises me as he opens the landing platform and I don't even have a moment to dwell on my thoughts from earlier before the sun blinds us.

Then I see them there and could almost laugh.

"Mando," the man says, visibly surprised. "Who's the lovely lady you have on board?"

"This is-" Din begins but she cuts him off.

"Kyra Kenobi, could that really be you?"

"Cara Dune," I grin as I hop off the platform. "I'll be damned. How many years has it been?"

"Too many," she replies and I hug my old friend.

"Kyra Kenobi?" the man stammers and Din looks at Cara and I in confusion.

"You two know each other?"

"The best shock trooper I had," I say proudly. "Those were some crazy missions alright."

"You don't need to remind me," she says resting a hand on my shoulder. "None of the other generals, or even commanders, would touch those missions but this crazy woman right here couldn't refuse."

He tilts his head at us in disbelief and I flash him a smile, from the way his shoulders relax I realise I wasn't the only one who'd been dwelling on this.

"Kyra Kenobi," the man says shaking my hand. "I'm Greef Karga, the Magistrate of Nevarro. It's certainly a surprise to have you here, but a welcome one."

"It's sure as hell a surprise," Cara says looking between us.

"How did General Kenobi, the Duchess of Mandalore herself end up with this old Mandalorian?" Greef asks and I laugh anxiously at the phrasing of it.

"I was looking for a Mandalorian. He was looking for a Jedi. Didn't quite go as planned."

"She's going to train the child in his powers," Din elaborates. "She's been good to have around."

The words take me by surprise, the downplaying. But considering everyone who meets us assumes we're together it's not surprising. Then again, he's not downplaying it at all. That's exactly what this is. I'm here to train the child, and that's all.

Greef and Cara both give us a funny look and Din looks back at his ship. "We're in need of some repairs, how's my credit around here?"

"I think something could be arranged," Cara assured him, taking the kid in her arms who coos happily at her then reaches for me.

"I'll get my best people on it," Greef says as Cara passes me the kid. "But first, may I have the pleasure of showing the Duchess around the establishment?"

I can't remember the last time anyone had dared call me a duchess but I remember the times before the destruction of Mandalore when that was how I was recognised. Another reminder of a life that was lost with Mandalore, except now as I look at Din and the child in my arms another stand's right in front of me. 

~

**Din POV**

She looks back at me asking for confirmation, with her eyes asking if I trust him and I give a single nod.

"I'd be honoured Magistrate Karga," she says formally and she looks to the kid in her arms. "Do you want to come with me or stay with Mando?"

Never once have I had to tell her not to use my name, she just knows. And that's why I like having her around, she just knows. She can read me, perhaps more than I like, but it makes it easy. Despite our initial friction she respects my creed, respects me enough she averts her gaze without being asked and knows when not to push. Being around someone who just knows those things... it's been a long time since I've felt so comfortable with someone, if ever.

The kid wraps his little hand around her finger and she smiles down at him. He's taken with her, and I can understand why. She's warm, kind, open with her affection. Things I can't afford to be.

But then again, when I see her wielding that laser sword I begin to doubt it. I begin to wonder how someone so battle hardened can still be so full of hope, of life. Especially after the things she's endured, things she's spat out in fits of anger or confessed in quiet moments.

Yet here she is, looking like that darkness that comes with our lines of work has never even touched her. But I know that's far from the truth.

"Coming with me then," she says and the child coos happily. He's grown attached to her, and every time she looks at me with those eyes I understand how. She brushes her auburn hair out of her eyes and lets it fall loose down her back, even with her armour it makes her look gentle, peaceful. Beautiful. "Is that okay?"

I nod knowing that the child is as safe as he could be with her, and Greef extends his arm to her. "Duchess."

He's definitely turned his on charms for her and her eyes are on me as she accepts his arm, giving me a nod farewell and I watch as he guides her towards the town, both of them happily chatting, at ease. Only now does it strike me that she's a public figure who'd be a person of interest to a magistrate.

She's royalty, a Duchess. She's a lot of things, a Jedi, a Mandalorian, a General. But at heart she's a soldier.

A true warrior.

I watch until her auburn hair disappears in the crowd and notice the look Cara's giving me.

"Kyra Kenobi," she says but I'd rather not be the one being interrogated.

"You fought two fought together?"

When I mentioned Cara to her on the ship I noticed how she froze. She may be able to read me, read what's beneath the helmet, but she doesn't realise just how expressive she is, even when she tries not to be. While she's been so busy trying to get a read on me she hasn't noticed how I've memorised every little revealing thing about her.

The seriousness in her eyes when she's deep in contemplation. The way she blinks and her jaw clenches when she's upset. The long, blank stare in her eyes when she's remembering something she doesn't want to, something that pains me to see, something I know far too well. How her fingers fidget when she's uncomfortable. The way her lip twitches and her eyes shine when she's trying her best but failing awfully at suppressing a smile. How quickly she eats, how she's so comfortable sleeping wherever if the opportunity presents itself, the way the tone of her voice and her entire being will shift entirely when she's giving commands. All the habits she's picked up after a decade as a soldier, as a general. The deadly calm that washes over her before she truly snaps like she did at her aunt. If she's angry there's no hiding it, and if she disapproves of something I'll definitely know about it that's for sure, just like earlier with the kid. But when she's truly dangerous her eyes are like a predators. Waiting to strike. A look akin to that of a bounty hunter. 

It's a bounty hunters job to know their quarry, the way they think, the way they act, to predict them.

It's no different with her, even if she is full of surprises. But finally I think I know enough about her past to be able to work out the rest. It's been easy with how open she is, never delving into too much detail but just enough that I know what I need to know.

So when I saw the way she stilled when I mentioned Cara I wasn't naive enough to be able to ignore it. Even if she tried to laugh it off, to pretend it was nothing, I still saw it, and I knew there was only one reason for it as much as both of us wanted to pretend otherwise.

Despite how much we've come to know each other there are still many things between us that remain unsaid, that being just one of them.

"I fought with her," Cara says and the raw respect in her eyes takes me by surprise as we slowly start to walk to the town. "Most Generals at that point had retired, Solo, Calrissian, Skywalker. All the big heroes. Except for her. When the war was over she didn't bask in all that glory, she was out in the field. Volunteering to be dropped into no man's land to command troops. I know all the people up high thought she was mad for wanting to be out there but she was the best fighter in the Rebellion."

"Did you know she's a Jedi?" I ask knowing this all would have been a lot simpler if I'd been pointed in her direction.

"Jedi? No. Not for certain anyways. I knew her and another hero were some kind of warrior with their laser swords and the other stuff but I just knew her as General Kenobi. Trust me when I say this is the first time I've ever heard her be called a Duchess," she answers. "And either way, I thought she'd be retired by now."

"Oh she has no intention of that," I say knowing at some point she'll be going to Chandrila to order an airstrike. And that I'll be coming with her.

I know I panicked when we were taking that freighter, thought she would leave the kid to go on fighting. But I saw the look in her eyes when we both realised where the conflict laid. We were both sworn to the child, but to each other was a different question.

One that still hangs between us.

"She sure as hell deserves an early retirement but it would probably drive her crazy sitting around all day," she chuckles. I know Cara well by now, and I know she doesn't speak with this much respect about just anybody.

"You respect her."

The look in her eyes shifts and she lowers her voice. "When she found out where I was from she did a lot for me. Put me in contact with the Princess herself. I never asked her to but she did anyways. She went out of her way for me with no reason to, she's that sort of person. That's why she was the best General the Rebellion had, she cared about each and every one of her soldiers and did everything in her power to make sure they came home."

She stops and looks at me properly, her voice serious. "I've never met a person who actually knows her to have a bad word to say about her, and if they do it's all bullshit. When you're fighting for your life with someone you know what they really are. And if she's promised to protect that kid then you can bet everything you have that she will or die trying. You couldn't have found anyone better."

And she means it. I've seen Kyra in the field, and every word Cara's said matches up with what I've seen. While she's sarcastic, and there's no doubt she's got a bitter, violent streak to her, one that I share, she's an overwhelmingly good person despite all the bad that's happened in her life. I see it every time she's with the kid and wonder how she isn't shut off and cold like her aunt, like me. She's so good, gentle, but strong. Even after I held her in my arms while she was in such raw pain she picked herself back up and kept going. Every moment I spend with her it becomes clear to me that she is anything but delicate.

She's a hardened woman, but my body can't shake the memory of how soft she feels against the beskar I wear. No matter how badly I want to forget, it craves more.

"I believe you," I say as we walk through the town and she gives me a funny look.

"Do you two get along at least?"

And I see myself lying beside her at Trask, her tired body leaning against my beskar-less shoulder, my arm around her waist time and time again. The bickering, the smiles she fails to hide, the words spoken late into the night. 

"For the child's sake," I find myself answering but I know that's not the truth. And so does she.

"The kid definitely seems to like her."

"She's good with him," I say thinking of dozens of little moments but mainly last night. Of her singing him back to sleep with a Mandalorian lullaby. Something I didn't even know existed. But I know that I didn't want her to stop. In that moment her voice the most beautiful thing I've heard in so long.

And when he reached out for me to stay and she looked at me with those big blue eyes I couldn't refuse. I wouldn't have wanted to if I could.

"How long is she tagging along with you?" she asks and I can't help how my heart skips a beat at the one question Kyra and I haven't dared ask.

"For the foreseeable future," I answer knowing that until we talk to the Jedi it's all undecided.

In the crowd I spot her auburn hair, gleaming red as the sun hits it just right, holding the kid in her arms and letting him choose a treat from one of the food stalls, laughing as he squeals in delight. 

She's beautiful, as much as I like to pretend I don't notice I'm not blind, it was one of the first thing's I'd noticed about her after I knew she wasn't a threat to the child, and I know other men have certainly commented on it to her varying degrees of dissatisfaction. A mistake Cobb Vanth definitely didn't make twice. Everything about her physically is beautiful, she comes from nobility, there's something about her that draws attention which I can see now as people pass her. Even old Greef seems a little entranced by her. 

While I can't deny she's stunning it's not that which is stirring something in me, seeing her with the child - all I see is the two of them, and for the first time I dare see a future. She has the abilities to protect him in a way I can't, whether it be from danger or last night, singing him back to sleep with a Mandalorian lullaby after a nightmare. 

In that moment, with tired eyes and auburn hair messed from sleep, Mando'a being softly hummed from her lips as she rocked the child to sleep, she'd never been so beautiful. 

Enough so that I dared to call her just that when she had fallen asleep on my shoulder. 

It takes me longer than it should to notice the look Cara's giving me. "Don't."

"I'm not saying anything, you are," she teases. "But while we're on the topic why do you act like she's just hired help? You had that lovely young widow at the sanctuary who wanted you to stay but you wouldn't go there with her. Now you've got Kyra Kenobi, the sweetest warrior you'll ever meet, helping you raise the kid. She'd only be in her late twenties. Stunning. Literal royalty. And you're still pretending she hasn't got you a certain type of way."

"Because she doesn't," I try to lie but Cara is the only person that comes close to Kyra with being able to read me, which I'm starting to think isn't quite worth the advantages it has. The look she's giving me doesn't falter and I sigh. "Because it can't be like that."

"Why can't it be?" she asks and I look over to Kyra who's smiling as the kid runs his little hand through her hair in fascination of the colour. He absolutely adores her and from the way she smile's it's hard to believe she may just be the deadliest warrior in the galaxy but after seeing her on that freighter I can believe it.

A Mandalorian Jedi, a deadly combination that has me coming undone.

"Because it can't."

Not when this entire situation is walking on a thin enough line as it is. Not when the kid has to be our main priority. Not when she told me herself she'd never go there again after how she was betrayed before. By a bounty hunter. She'd never say it but I know my profession doesn't sit right with her solely due to the fact she was betrayed before for credits. And I can't even blame her. 

Looking at her now I can't imagine any man who was loved by her betraying her with a blaster to her back. Not after holding her and feeling her warmth, how rare and precious such a thing is to a man who feels nothing but the hardness of beskar. Not after feeling her bare hand holding yours, whispering gentle words in the darkness. Not after sleeping beside her, not after he knew her how he did.

Then to ruin it all for credits. 

Even knowing her as I do there's no price that could persuade me to betray her, just as there's none that could ever persuade me to betray the kid. 

And looking at them both now, they're all I see. And whatever lies ahead after we find the other Jedi, I don't want that to change.

Her eyebrows draw together in concentration, as they do when she senses something, and her eyes find me. She gives me a small smile before pointing the kid's attention to me and beaming at the excitement on his little face.

"Mando," Greef calls and we walk over to them. "I've just been showing your lovely companion and the child around the market place, he was absolutely fascinated by the eggs."

Kyra gives me a knowing smile as she passes the kid to me who's face is overwhelmed with joy, it always is when he's with her, and she laughs "Well he sure has a thing for them."

"Karga hasn't been boring you?" I ask wondering if he's been interrogating her as much as Cara's been interrogating me, if he has she sure's handled it with more grace. 

"Not at all," she says politely. "He's been telling me all about the last time you were here on Nevarro, with some details omitted I assume, but it's been interesting that's for certain."

She looks at the kid and I realise he's been filling her in on his powers, the thing's he did during the face off with Moff Gideon.

"It was also good to hear that you took that bastard out of the sky," she says tilting her head at me. "When you said he died you didn't mention that you blew up his x-wing while mid-air."

On her face there's nothing but satisfaction. "You're welcome."

She looks at me proudly and after a moment Cara clears her throat and I see the look those two exchange, they might be friends but Kyra is still very much embodying a general with the warning look she gives Cara.

"I was just about to finish showing the lovely Duchess around our little town," Greef says and I see the amusement on her face at being referred to as the lovely Duchess. No one can deny that she's sweet by nature but when images of her with her saber flash through my mind I know lovely perhaps isn't the best word to describe her.

He leads us into a building and I'm beyond surprised to see a school of all things, filled with kids and a teaching droid.

"A school?"

"Things have changed a lot around here."

Greef looks at the kid. "We can leave the little one here so we can talk business."

Immediately my arms tighten around him in a protective hold. "Wherever I go, he goes."

"Mando," Kyra coaxes. "It's a school, it's safe."

"The safest place he can be is with me."

She gives me that same look she did when he was helping me with the wires. "Don't get me started after the shock that poor kid got this morning."

Cara and Greef look at us in confusion, not realising that it was a literal electrical shock. Probably for the best.

"Fine, then he'll be safe with you and me."

She tilts her head at me and plucks the kid out of my arms. "This is a school, maker knows he could use some time in one. Let him be a normal kid for a day."

And I know she doesn't mean those words as any sort of criticism, but rather just genuinely wanting the kid to have one day to be normal.

"Where we're going you don't want to bring a child," Greef adds. "Trust me."

"He'll be fine here," Cara says. "You have my word."

I watch as Greef takes the kid from Kyra and puts him down at a desk near the front of the room amongst the other kids before he waves Kyra and I to follow him and Cara outside.

But even as they go I wait near the door, watching him anxiously.

"Din," she says quietly knowing only I can hear her and I swear she knows what she's doing when she gives me those eyes. "He'll be fine, and so will you."

"Do Jedi even go to normal school?" I ask wanting any excuse to take him with me and she rests a hand on my arm.

"Yes, I did. I went to an Academy and have two different degrees," she tells me and while I knew she was intelligent I never imagined that. "It will be good for him."

"What if he gets into trouble?" I ask knowing what he's like. "You know he can't keep his hands to himself."

She laughs lightly. "Then we can go in and apologise to the droid teacher and promise he won't do it again because it's just one day Din."

I sigh hesitantly and her eyes stay on mine as her fingers trail down my arm to my hand, squeezing it firmly. "Okay?"

"Okay." I reluctantly agree and she gives me a thankful smile, releasing my hand as she leads me outside to where Cara and Greef are waiting for us.

"Come on," Cara says to her. "Let's go on ahead, let the old guys take their time."

Kyra raises an eyebrow at her and shakes her head but goes ahead with her anyways.

I sigh as I turn to Greef already knowing what's coming. "I got enough from Cara."

"Oh Mando, you are sweet on that girl," he chuckles looking me up and down. 

"I'm not...sweet on her."

"Oh you know you are," he says and I wonder what she's thinking considering I know Cara is no doubt pestering her. "I understand why, she is a lovely girl, good with the kid, way out of your league but I think you've got a fighting chance. She was quite impressed with some of the tales I was telling, you should be thanking me. You may yet just charm your way into getting yourself a duchess with my help."

"You know she's a Mandalorian Jedi right?" I ask him knowing she's never been shy about using it to intimidate, and that she's far more than the Duchess of a wasteland. "One of the best warriors in the galaxy from what I've seen. What she can do with that laser sword- I've never seen anything like it."

"Then she's just your type," he says and I'm glad for the helmet because there'd be no denying it otherwise. "Great with kids and killing. Sounds like the perfect woman for you and do you really think I didn't see you gawking at her in the market for a solid five minutes before she noticed you?"

"I wasn't gawking."

He gives me a doubtful look as we trail after them and sighs. "Don't cut yourself short Mando, that girl might just be the best thing that's ever happened to you and the kid."

My eyes settle on her and I know it's true, but I also know that even if I could admit to myself what this is I could never admit it to her. 

I can't give her what she deserves. Even if I wanted to love her, I don't know how.

But as much as I try to deny it I know that my heart might not give me much choice in the matter. Not when after all these years of feeling nothing it yearns for her touch, and for her.


	13. Twelve.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hell of a lot of killing, she finds out the truth about whay the Empire wanys with the kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, follow my tumblr @galaxticangel for updates and other fics. Also have. Poe x solo!reader one uo that I’m gojng to be returning to so check it out, the slightly altered version of it is on tumblr.

Cara and I walk ahead of the boys and I already know what this is about. 

"How much shit did you give him?"

"Only a little," she says but I know her better than that. "Only fair I give you some as well."

"Are men and women not allowed to be friends now Cara?"

"Not when they're eye-fucking constantly."

I elbow her in the ribs in she just laughs. "That's what I thought."

"Did you have this much of a mouth on you when I was your commanding officer."

"I did, which was why you liked me," she says and it's hard to be mad at her because it's true. "Please tell me you aren't as stubborn as he is with admitting what's going on between the two of you."

"Cara, if you think I haven't become more stubborn with age you're in for a shock, and there's nothing going on."

"You sure about that?" she asks and all I can hear is him last night, when I was half asleep leaning on his shoulder with the blanket he wrapped around me. 

Sweet dreams Mesh'la

My hand comes up to rub my shoulder, my eyes pressed shut for a moment as I try to forget.

"I'm sure."

"You're an awful liar you know that right."

"Look Cara, I haven't been with anyone properly in years and I don't plan on that changing."

Yet I can't help but taste the lie on my tongue the moment it leaves my mouth. 

"Sure," she says doubtfully. "But you know that you've got him some type of way."

I just laugh at that. "We're talking about the same guy right."

"You mean the one who's been staring at you since you two hopped off that ship and I bet fifty credits he's staring at you right now."

While she glances over her shoulder I don't have to. I can feel his gaze melting into me. 

"So what if he's looking at me?" I counter. "He's observant, vigilant. It's nothing."

"You two are perfect for each other" she says sarcastically as she shakes her head. 

"And why's that?"

"You're the biggest idiots in the galaxy."

"Oh no," I say shaking my head. "If you knew my history with men you'd very much agree drawing that line is the smartest thing I've done in my life."

And with that I decide to finish the conversation and turn back around to the boys, the sudden action makes Din halt. 

"So Magistrate Karga, as much as I've loved catching up with my old friend here, what's this business you want our assistance with?"

Cara gives me a look and I offer a self-satisfied smirk in return. I'm not being interrogated, not today. 

"Just this way Duchess," he says and I wait for him and Din to catch up before I keep walking. 

The two of us share a mutually exasperated look, as ironic as it is to try to deny it, before we're led into a building. 

Din lets me enter first and my eyes settle on a Mythrol working on some computers.

"This is Kyra Kenobi, Rebellion General and Duchess of Mandalore," Greef says and the man looks confused before Din steps in and there is pure fear. "And as for my friend here I believe you two have met."

Something like steam is expelled from his gills and I realise he and Din have most certainly met. 

"I'm surprised to see you here."

"Right back at ya," he says anxiously and I can't help how the corner of my mouth tilts upwards as I glance at Din. 

"Mythrol here's taken care of my books since he was a pollywog," Greef tells us. "But then he disappeared one day after a bit of creative accounting."

"Magistrate Karta was generous enough to let me work off my debt," the Mythrol swallows, glancing between Din and I. "Thank you by the way."

"Three hundred and fifty years, but who's counting?"

"Well if he runs off on you again let me know," Din says and I can't help the proud half smile on my face.

"Let me assure you, I do not want to spend any more time in carbonite. Still can't see outta my left eye."

"Carbonite's nasty but it does the job," I say much to Din's surprise as well as the Mythrols. "I was there the first time it was ever used on someone, he was fine but oh the effects are certainly long lasting."

"You aren't here to take me away are you General?" he asks and I laugh dismissively. 

"That's below my pay grade."

"Speaking of which can we talk business?" Cara asks and now I'm the one raising my eyebrows at her. 

"Now you want to talk business?"

I hear a muffled choke come from the back of Din's throat which he attempts to cover up by clearing his throat. 

"We're only here for repairs," Din says and his desperation to get out of this room further confirms my suspicions that Cara gave him an earful. 

"Which will take a while. Which means you'll have free time on your hands right?"

"We have time," I tell Din knowing Ahsoka likely won't be going anywhere and he sighs reluctantly. 

"We could really use your help," Greef says glancing between us. "Both of you."

"What kind of help?" I ask, already having an inkling it's my line of work. 

Cara opens up a hologram. "This is Nevarro. We're here. This entire area's a green zone. Completely safe." She zooms in on a base. "But over here's the problem. Which is right up your ally."

"It's an old Imperial base," Greef tells us. "And who better to help us than the best rebel there ever was."

"Has this base caused any trouble for you before?" I ask and a silence settles over them all. "When?"

"It's where all those troops came from when we defeated Moff Gideon," Cara elaborates and I remember what Greef told me. Din only told me Gideon was dead, he hadn't given me the whole story. But now I know. "This base has been here since the Imperial expansion. It's got a skeleton crew but for some reason it hasn't been abandoned."

"The Empire is upping its security," I tell her bitterly. "Old freighters that are meant to have skeletons crews now have entire squadrons transporting brand new state of the art weapons. You can bet that it will be manned by far more than a skeleton crew."

"Then you might be interested," Greef says hopefully. "There's a lot of heavy weaponry in that place the black market would love to dismantle and get their hands on."

That definitely peaks my interest, something Din notices. "This is the type of thing you've been looking for right?"

"Definitely," I answer, he may be reluctant but he isn't arguing. "This past year or so I've noticed Imperial activity escalating in the outer rims, something the Republic doesn't want to admit. I've been looking for proof that they can't deny, I've got some but whatever is in this base might just seal the deal."

"So you'll do it?" Greef asks and a satisfied smile spreads across my face. 

"Magistrate Karga, Imperials are my speciality."

"Now that's what I like to hear," he grins. "And you Mando, you going to let your lady take care of this on her own, not that she isn't capable of course, or are you going to tag along?"

At this point I hardly even react to being called his lady, it's certainly the most polite way it's been phrased and there's no dissuading either of them from that opinion anyways. 

Din looks at me and despite how much I want to prove Cara wrong I know I must have some effect on him when he doesn't even sigh before agreeing. "I'll come."

With that we head outside and Din and I hang back a little. 

"Thank you," I say to him quietly. 

"It's a given at this point that we're going to end up shooting up Imperial bases," he says in resignation then tilts his helmet towards me. "But I don't mind."

"You don't?"

"You weren't wrong with what you said on Trask, people like us, we live for the fight. Or in my case for the hunt."

"As long as the kid is safe first and foremost," I finish and he nods, his body easing in relief. 

"That's my main priority, but it doesn't mean you aren't one," he says and I know I must quite visibly be taken by surprise. "You have a job, a purpose, I can't expect you to just forget it for the kid. You respect my creed and the child's safety above all else, and I respect the work you're doing out here. I respect you. It's a compromise I'm happy to make."

And something blooms in my chest that I haven't felt in so long. Except this time it's accompanied by something even more crucial, trust.

"Thank you Din," I say knowing we're out of earshot of Cara and Greef. "And I do respect you. Your creed, what you do for the kid. All of it. You're a good man Din Djarin."

I feel how his body almost seizes up at those words, as if in disbelief. "I wouldn't go that far."

"But I will," I say, truly seeing it even if he can't. "It's true, even if you can't believe it."

"If you knew the things I've done-"

"You're a bounty hunter, I know what you do," I reply calmly. "I know better than most, and you're unlike any I've ever met. You are a good man."

I hear his shaky intake of breath but before he can reply we hear Cara calling out to us, telling us to hurry up. And we do. 

~

We ride by speeder to the base, a tension hanging between Din and I who sit side by side. One I know the others can feel. 

But aside from that I'm feeling quite optimistic, which Din notices.

"You look like you have a good feeling about this." 

"I've missed this, it reminds me of the good old days," I say knowing how strange it must seem that the war was the good days. "Storming Imperial bases, working on my saber skills. It's been a while."

"You stormed an Imperial freighter days ago," he points out with that dry humour of his. 

A smile twitches at my lip as my hair blows behind me in the wind. "It's not the same."

"There's a reason we left when they wanted us to be peacekeepers," Cara says and we exchange a smile. "And look at us now."

"A Marshall and an honourary General who's a pain in the Chancellors ass."

"She doesn't like you does she?" Cara asks which is something Din and Greef seem very surprised by. 

"Why wouldn't she?" Greef asks in bewilderment and Din tilts his helmet at me in equal confusion. 

"Let's just say they didn't like my mother, the Republic always thought she was difficult and the Rebel Alliance kept her out of the loop due to having been neutral in the Clone Wars. So when the heir to Mandalore joined the alliance at about sixteen, seventeen, they were hesitant to say the least, but oh they had no idea what was in store for them."

"And what was in store?" Din asks and I can't help the pride that rises in me. 

"A Mandalorian."

And I feel the pride in him that we wear like beskar. The foundling Mandalorian who never removes his, and the Mandalorian Duchess who hasn't worn her's in years. But that doesn't change who we are. It doesn't make us any more, or any less, Mandalorian. 

"So what's the plan?" he asks me but it's Greef who speaks. 

"The whole base is powered by a reactor."

"We sneak in, overload the reactor, and get the hell out of there," Cara finishes and it sounds solid enough. 

"Alright, while you do that I'll take a look around the base. Get whatever tapes I can," I decide knowing what I'll need to get the Chancellor to acknowledge what's going on out here. 

"You'll have to be fast," Din warns, and I can feel that concern in him. Not because he thinks I'm incapable, but solely because raising a toddler has left him constantly filled with worry.

"Don't you worry about me," I assure him. "I'll be just fine."

"There it is," Greef says pointing in the distance. "Right there. You see it?"

We come through the canyon and sure enough there it is. 

"How close do you want me to drop you off?" Mythrol asks. 

"How about the front door?"

I look at Din beside me as Greef and Mythrol continue to bicker and can feel his eyes rolling back into his head beneath the helmet. 

Finally we arrive and jump out of the speeder. We come to an elevator and I get my saber out while Din works the controls. 

"Controls are useless, they're melted."

"No problem," I say using the force to slide the door open and they all give me the same look to which I shrug my shoulders. "Jedi."

"Alright I'm heading back," Mythrol stammers, still seeming unnerved by Din and I. "Hit me up on the com, we could set up a rendezvous time."

"You park your gills right there until I say otherwise."

"No," I say reluctantly, something nagging at me that I know not to ignore. "He'll be useful. He's coming with us."

"Are you serious?" Cara asks, voicing what everyone's thinking. 

"Yes," I say and Mythrol looks at me like it's a joke. "Do I need to tell you twice?"

"No General," he says quickly as he stumbles out of the speeder. "I've heard the stories, you won't have any trouble from me."

I nod in satisfaction and step inside the elevator then pause, feeling them. "There's troopers above. Cara, Mando, follow me up. Greef, Mythrol, stay down here until it's quiet."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Mythrol says as Cara and Din join me in the elevator. 

"Don't shoot unless you have to," I instruct, knowing this isn't going to be just a skeleton crew. "We're sneaking in, don't want to draw unwanted attention."

"You got it," Cara says and Din nods in agreement as I work the controls inside until the elevator jolts and rises. 

The doors open and there's only four. The moment I ignite my saber they freeze, instantly recognising me, the first one who goes to shoot I toss off the edge of the platform using the force and strike down the others before they can even think to run. 

"You gonna leave some for us?" Cara asks and I grin back at them. 

"Possibly." I poke my head over the edge and call out. "You can come up now."

They both look at the body on the ground and back to me with equal looks of horror before quickly shuffling into the elevator. 

"I almost forgot you could fling people across a room," Cara says and I can't tell if Din is disturbed or impressed, I'm guessing the latter. 

Greef and Mythrol walk out onto the platform and survey the area

"The reactor should be set in the heat shaft," Greef tells us as Cara walks near the edge. "If we drain the cooling lines this whole base will go up in a matter of minutes."

"Look," we hear Mythrol say pointing at a covered up marauder. "It's a mint Trexler Marauder. Do you know how much we can get for this on the black market?"

"And it's gonna get vaporised like the rest of this base," Din says and I can hear the annoyance rumbling in his voice. 

"Was this guy actually a bounty or did he just piss you off?" I ask and he sighs heavily. 

"Both," he answers. "Now let's go."

"Alright, you guys handle the reactor and I'll get what I need. If you run into any trouble I'm sure you can handle it."

"Likewise," he says and nods towards the controls for the door into the base. "You want to open that or should I?"

My lip tilts up as I push the door up and ignite my saber but it's all clear. "Alright, we take security out then split up."

And so I guide us through the ship, Din and Cara taking out the camera's as we find our way to command. 

"Shuttle bay, this is command," we hear from inside. "Shuttle bay, the security feed just went down, can you check your relay hub? Shuttle bay?"

Cara grabs the officer in a choke hold and knocks him out while Din and I work the security controls, shutting them all down and extracting the tapes. 

"This will come in handy." We look to see Greef holding a code cylinder.

"Very handy indeed," I agree. "You better hang onto that, you'll need it to get to the reactor."

"I found the heat shaft."

"Go blow this place sky high," I tell them. "I'll get what I need."

~

While they head to the reactor I walk through the base after extracting everything I could from command. 

And the deeper I go the more certain I am that isn't right here. 

That there's something strange at work. 

And so I let the force guide me until I stumble upon it. A place where it is so abnormally strong I don't want to see what waits inside. 

"Command isn't responding," I hear an officer say as I silently enter the room. "Command come in."

I ignite my saber and they jump around to stare at me in horror. The moment they register my saber they pull out blasters but not to fire upon me.

I freeze them both in place before they can fire on the controls. Immediately from their uniforms I know they aren't typical officers. 

"Do you know who I am?"

"Jedi Master Kyra Kenobi," one grits between his teeth as he tries to desperately to pull the trigger on his blaster but he can't. "You- you should never have come here."

"The force brought me here," I answer and then out of the corner of my eye I see it. Giant tanks filled with life forms, each of them so strong with the force I've never felt, or seen, anything like it. 

"I've seen many things in my time fighting the Empire," I tell them as I take a closer inspection. "But very few things have disturbed me as deeply as this."

I put a hand on the glass and look upon the grotesque lifeforms and feel it, the life within.

"This isn't a military base," I realise as I turn to look at the scientists. "This is a lab."

And I see true fear in their eyes. "You don't know anything."

"But I do," I say as I step closer to them. Allowing myself to see clearly, not through my own eyes but through the force. "Cinder. Suicide before capture. You have orders to destroy everything here if you were ever caught."

It's then the sirens blare throughout the base and I realise my time is limited. 

They won't tell me anything, but their data will. 

"You will let me into the system," I instruct, feeling the strength of the force, feeling their will to fight against it falter. "You will drop your blasters and let me into the system now!"

It's then Din and the others run in to find me throwing the scientists blasters across the room while holding them at lightsaber point as they let me into the system. 

"Kyra?" I hear Din ask as they stare at the tanks in horror. "The hell is this?"

"We're about to find out."

A hologram of another scientist appears. 

"We replicated the results of the subsequent trials, which also resulted in catastrophic failure. There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but then sadly the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt we'll find another donor with a higher M-count though."

It's then I feel truly sick to my stomach as I realise the truth behind these experiments. So sick I feel Din's hand on my shoulder as my eyes glass over. 

"Midichlorians," I exhale shakily and the scientists eyes widen in terror at my realisation.

"I recommend that we suspend all experimentation. I fear that the volunteer will meet the same regrettable fate if we proceed with the transfusion. Unfortunately we have exhausted our initial supply of blood. The Child is small, and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him."

I look at Din in such horror I'm grasping his arm at the thoughts of what they've done to the child, what they plan to do. He couldn't even begin to imagine the true darkness that lies behind this.

"If these experiments continue as requested, we would again require access to the donor. I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon."

I bring a shaking hand up to cover my mouth while Din tries to rationalise it. "This must be an old transmission. Moff Gideon is dead."

I look at the scientists. "How old is this recording."

No mind tricks are required as I hold them in place. 

"Three days old."

"If Gideon's alive then-"

Blaster shots fill the air and something inside of me snaps. I deflect the blaster shots, covering them until Din and Cara can clear the room then grab one of the scientists by the collar of his shirt.

"Kill me," he challenges and I shake my head.

"No, that would be mercy."

I cut his companion down knowing that I only need one and hold my saber to his throat. 

"Greef, I don't suppose I can borrow Mythrols cuffs?"

He nods, stunned, and very quickly cuffs the scientist as I stare at the tanks, feeling sick to my core.

"Mando, you're putting him in carbonite when we get back to your ship."

"Alright," he agrees as Cara grabs the scientist and holds him at blaster point. "But what's going on here, what do you know?"

I'm rendered incapable of speech as darkness fills my senses, true darkness I haven't felt in so many years. Something almost familiar-

I feel Din's hands cupping my face. "Kyra?" He can feel me shaking beneath his touch. "We need to get out of here."

My eyes focus on him and only then do I feel the tears staining my cheeks, but the darkness has me paralysed. "Kyra," he repeats wiping those tears away and whispers to me in Mando'a. "I don't know what's going on here, but I know you. Whatever this is you can fight it, for the kid, for me. We need to get the hell out of here." 

The mention of the child, of my padawan, pulls me from the darkness and I wake in his arms, with his hand's clutching my face. And then they come.

Blasterfire once again echoes through the room and I yell "Get to the ship, I'll hold them off."

Cara takes the prisoner and Greef and Mythrol follow closely behind her, Din and I stay to fight.

But with two more appearing for each that falls and the reactor about to blow we know we need to get the hell out of here.

"I don't like these odds."

"Neither do I," I agree as we take cover behind the control panel. With the reactor due to blow any minute now and the sheer number of troops I really don't like these odds. "Get the kid, I'll hold them off."

"Kyra-" he begins to protest but I'm not having it.

"Get the kid and take him far away from here," I order as blaster fire begins to ricochet above us. "The Empire will get his hands on him over my dead body."

He grabs my hand tightly and swears to me. "It's not going to come to that."

"Go," I repeat knowing he's the only one who can jet back to the town in time in case they come for the kid, and that I'm the only one who can hold them off for long enough. "Now!"

And I cover him. Deflecting the blaster fire until he can make it out towards the reactor to jet out, then I fight my way through the base to retreat to the speeder. But standing between me and freedom is over a dozen troopers packed into a hallway, firing out at the platform where Cara and the others are. By the time I reach the troopers they don't know what's hit them, not until they're dead on the ground and I deflect a blaster shot as I run onto the platform, only to see Cara is the one holding the blaster.

"You're alive," she breathes in relief. "Mando?"

"Jetted out of here to get the kid," I answer knowing he'd have to be at the school by now. "We need to get the hell out of here."

Then I hear them running, dozens upon dozens more troopers. "Get back!"

And with the fear, with the anger, with every bloody midichlorian in me that would die before letting any harm come to the child, I bring down the tunnel, collapsing it completely.

But I can feel the domino effect within and know our time is up.

"Speeder, now!"

We run to the elevator only for it to open to more troopers but we don't have time.

"Kyra!" Cara yells as she pulls the cover off the Trexler Marauder. It's crazy, but it will work.

I hold off the troopers as she gets it running, grabbing the terrified scientist by the throat and shoving him inside.

"It's about to blow," I tell her and she curses as she revs the engine, backing into the rubble I made, then the moment she launches us off of the platform it blows.

Lava erupts from the base and splatters around us as we catapult towards the canyon.

"It got us!' Mythrol yells and I look to find the back end of the vehicle aflame but we can't stop. I run to the back and stumble as the vehicle jolts against the rocks, smoke filling the cabin. By the time I reach the back it already has a hole burned through it, large enough that I can see the lava that chases us. 

Flames threaten to consume us, until I use whatever strength's left in me to keep the flames at bay, blocking out the chaos and the darkness, until finally the vehicle comes to a halt and when I open my eyes we're safe in the canyon, the flames little more smoking sparks.

I let out a shaky breath of relief and look back to find everyone alright, well aside from the scientist who is a dishevelled mess on the ground. Knowing he's not going anywhere I step out of the gaping hole in the back of the vehicle and examine the mess we've left behind. It's impressive.

It's then I hear the familiar rumbling of the ship above and watch as it lands, unable to help my hazy smile of pure relief as the landing platform lowers and he stands there with the kid in his arms.

I stumble forth and don't realise how much strength has been taken from me until I collapse in his arms. "Din."

"Kyra," he breathes as my head falls against his shoulder and he holds me upright, cradling me and the child in his arms. "You're alright."

"Told you I'd be fine," I smile breathlessly as the others emerge from the vehicle. "We all made it out."

I lift my head up enough to look at the child, my padawan, and back to Din. All restraint gone as I wrap my arms around them both, my hand cradling the back of Dins helmet as I embrace them both fully. And to my equal surprise and relief, he returns the embrace just as fiercely.

And despite the darkness that looms, I've never felt closer to the light.


	14. thirteen.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her and Din struggle to confront what everyone else can see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for the flashback in this chapter; suicidal thoughts, non-graphic attempted suicide to avoid capture.

We only pull away when we become aware of the eyes watching us, knowing that there's nothing we could say or do now to dissuade them from what they see between us.

"You okay?" Din asks as he pulls away, looking between me and the ship. It's then I notice the ash he wipes off of my leather armour.

"She kept the vehicle from going up in flames," Greef says. "Her and the kid... they're something else."

"That's for sure," Din says and there's pride in his voice, pride in both of us. Then as his hand lingers on my waist I realise it's something more, fondness. "We should get going."

"Actually, I was hoping you two might stay a little while," Greef says and looks back at the ruins of the base. "There's no doubt the Republic's going to come sniffing around here, you might be able to help us out."

"There might be a problem with that," Din says knowing he's got a warrant out on his ship and leaves it to me to make the call.

"We'll hide the Razor Crest and I'll deal with whatever officers come to check it out. I need to touch base with someone anyways, see if those charges have been dropped."

"Charges?" Cara asks then her mouth purses in realisation. "Those bastards."

"I haven't been able to contact Leia but I know she'll take care of it," I say with certainty, as much as I hate that this falls on her she's got my back, no matter what. "And I need to bring the Imperial to Chandrila."

The scientist swallows hard, fearing the thing all Imperials fear most, being captured alive.

"What about the other Jedi?" Din asks and I take the kid in my arms, trying to hide how shaken I still am.

"She can wait. We need to keep the kid safe," I say knowing that is the main priority for us both. "We can't do that while Moff Gideon is alive."

I look at the scientist and the child squints at him with recognition. The child reaches his hand out towards him and I feel it just a moment before the scientist clutches at his throat, and I allow it, for just a moment.

"That's enough," I say softly and the child releases him. "He won't hurt you, not ever again." That's when I look at Din. "Put him in carbonite. Now. Before I kill him."

Din nods and wrestles the struggling scientist inside the ship, for a moment I stay outside so I don't have to witness it, but decide otherwise.

The child and I walk inside and stand there, watching silently as Din shoves the scientist inside the carbonite chamber.

The second time I've ever witnessed such a thing done. And the first- I wish I could forget it.

_"You fucking bastard!" I screamed as I fought against Boba's grasp, as Chewie tried to stop it._

_"Don't fight!" Boba snapped as he held me taut to his beskar covered chest, trapped in his arms. "Don't be stupid, stop fighting or you'll end up in there as well!"_

_"Save your strength, there'll be another time!" Han snapped at us as they cuffed Chewie, and Boba held me firmly in place. "It's not your fault kid. Take care of Leia for me alright? Both of you."_

_I nodded reluctantly for his sake and Chewie whined while Leia watched us all in silence. Resigned to Han's fate._

_Until she kissed him, and the hands that held me had never made me feel so sick. Hands that had held me at my most vulnerable, that had touched me as no one else ever had, the same hands that aimed a blaster at my back and held me there helpless to save my friend._

_Han was torn away and I flinched as Leia cried out "I love you!"_

_Boba's hold on me tightened at Han's reply. "I know." And he held me as he had so many nights, pressed flush to his chest, his touch warm and safe._

_Except I'd never felt so cold._

_And I watched, helpless, as he was lowered into the carbonite, and was horrified by what I saw when he re-emerged._

_I could hardly look at Leia who clung to Chewie, and we all watched as Lando examined him._

_"Well done Calrissian, did he survive?"_

_"Yes, he's alive," he answered and I would have collapsed from relief had it not been for Boba's arms. "And in perfect hibernation."_

_It was then Vader turned to Boba and I. "He's all yours bounty hunter, and the Duchess is mine. You did not fail me."_

_"Remember the deal," Boba said to him and his grip on me was no longer to restrain me, but to protect me. "You won't lay a hand on her."_

_Vader stepped closer, towering over us both. "You are not in any position to make demands, and her wellbeing will be based on her co-operation." He then tilted his helmet down towards me. "I made you this offer once before. Join me as your Father should have, submit yourself to the Empire, or die."_

_"Stop fighting princess," Boba murmured into my ear as he felt me begin to struggle, and I could hear the desperation laced in his voice. "Mandalore is gone, this Rebellion will die along with it. Co-operate and he won't lay a hand on you. I made sure of that. Everything will be alright, just stop fighting."_

_It was the closest I'd ever heard Boba come to begging. For a moment I could have even believed he loved me._

_"Is that what he promised you?" I asked, the irony of the deal not escaping me. "He doesn't need to lay a hand on me to hurt me. I thought you'd know that."_

_And I felt him tense behind me, knowing damn well just what Vader had inflicted upon me using the force alone. Yet there we were._

_"Regardless of your decision, I'm not going to kill you," Vader said and that's when I backed into Boba's hold, squirming away from the Sith Lord. "I thought you would have learned that lesson after the Purge."_

_My throat tightened and tears finally fell from Leia's eyes as I choked, Boba's grip slackening enough my hand could come up to claw at my throat, but it wasn't enough._

_"This wasn't part of the deal!" Boba argued as he released me from his hold, to try to relieve the pressure on lungs, but he was just as powerless as I was as he clutched my face between his hands, silently pleading for me to breathe, but I couldn't._

_"Lord Vader, let me escort her and the others to your ship," Lando suggested, desperate to stop the scene in front of him. "Give her time to reconsider."_

_"You can deliver her straight to the torture chamber," Vader said as he forced memories to the forefront of my mind. "She will suffer until Skywalker submits to me. And then her continued suffering will act as a warning to him, the Rebels, and all other surviving Mandalorians of what happen's when they rebel."_

_It was then I was torn from Boba's arms. Torn from him to become the Empire's most valuable prisoner. And I was back on the ground after Mandalore, screaming in agony. Wishing I was dead._

_And that was when I broke._

_"No!" I screamed as those scars that would never leave me, burned, and I threw the troopers across the room, even Vader stilling in surprise. "I will not be your prisoner. N_ _ot ever_ _again."_

_"Yes," he coaxed_ _and I realised this is what he wanted all along_ _. "Use your hate, use your anger."_

_"Oh I will," I promised him and it was then I could hear my fathers voice, telling me what he'd told me a hundred times._

_'Only the strongest can withstand the darkness.'_

_Falling wasn't a choice, but neither was surrendering._

_And I looked at Leia and Chewie, at Han, and felt Luke just systems over._

_My family. Battered and bruised. But not broken._

_And I knew that they would win this war, even if I didn't live to see it._

_I looked into Leia's eyes, filled with fear and confusion. "Kyra?"_

_"I'm sorry," I told her as I turned around to face Boba._

_My hands came up to hold the sides of his helmet and I rested my forehead against his, knowing that in a different life it all could have been so different._

_But there we were._

_"Do you trust me princess?" Boba asked as my hands trailed down his armoured chest, to where my lightsaber rested at his hip._

_"With my life," I told him as my finger brushed over the metal hilt._

_He lifted my chin up and tilted his head at me. "No, you don't."_

_And just as I reached for my saber to end this, he snatched my wrist away, and the next thing I knew the blade was at my neck._

_Leia stared in horror and Chewie's roars echoed throughout the room as Vader approached._

_"How interesting," he observed as Boba held me back. "Just as I thought, you are your fathers daughter. If only he were alive to see this."_

_It felt like my mind was splintering, shattering, until screams of the rawest agony were torn from my throat and the heat of my own saber prickled my neck._

_"Just kill me!"_

_But I wasn't begging Vader. I would never beg him for mercy. I was begging the man I loved._

_"Please Boba!" I cried out, he'd held me through all those nights. He knew what I could never admit to Leia and Luke. He knew that he wished I was dead. That I died on Mandalore. He knew all those nights my hatred for the Empire was the only thing that kept me from turning the blaster on myself. He knew I'd rather die at the end of a blaster, at the blade of my own saber, than become a prisoner, than allow Vader the satisfaction of watching me suffer. "If you ever loved me, please, please just kill me!"_

_Even the troopers halted at those words, and for the first time, Boba's hand trembled as he held the saber to my neck. Vader waited, almost as if he was permitting it._

_"Please," I quaked, ready for it all to finally end. "Please Boba."_

_"Not like this."_

_He roughly turned me to face him and removed the blade from my neck, instead pulling his own blaster on me._

_"Kyra!" Leia yelled in protest as Chewie had to hold her back, but she went limp when she finally saw the defeat in my eyes. "Please, don't."_

_And again, for the first time, he hesitated._ _  
_

_"Do it!" I ground out, mustering the last of my strength. "If you don't pull that fucking trigger I swear I will hate you until the day I die."_

_Boba pressed the barrel of his blaster to my head and stroked my cheek with a heart wrenching gentleness._

_And again, I could have almost sworn he loved me._

_"Close your eyes princess."_

_And so I did._

_But he never pulled the trigger._

_When my eyes opened my saber was now in Vader's hands, and Boba's knuckle lifted my chin up as tears of betrayal burned in my eyes._

_And all that could be heard as I was once again torn from him, and dragged to the torture chamber, were the screams of a broken women, pleading for the man she loved to end her suffering._

_But he never did._

Now I am silent as I watch the scientist pleading with me. "Kill me, because you won't get anything from me. Just kill me!"

Din looks back at me for confirmation and my voice is void of any emotion, just as a Jedi should be. Just as I wish I could be. "Put him in carbonite."

The child coos up at me in confusion and I shield his eyes. Watching in silence as Din freezes the struggling man in carbonite without any further hesitation.

When it's done Din looks back at me and sees the emptiness in my eyes as I stare at the frozen figure. 

"Kyra?"

My eyes focus on Din for just a moment, bringing me back to reality. I lower my hand from the child's eyes and look down at him, feeling zero remorse for what I've done, and will do, to keep him safe.

"We'll take him to Chandrila," I tell Din hoarsely. "Along with the other evidence. We expose what the Empire is doing."

"And then?"

I look at him, feeling a purpose I haven't felt in many years. "Then we kill Moff Gideon."

He steps close until his body is almost touching mine and rests a hand on my shoulder, the other coming to cradle the back of the child. "We'll kill him. Together."

"Together," I agree and feel Cara and Greef growing anxious outside. "But first we have a mess to clean up."

~

Din and I sit alone with the child in the back of the cantina, waiting silently for the Republic to arrive.

I nurse a drink, trying to shake my unease, but I know it's not going anywhere.

Worst case scenario they try to apprehend me, which won't end well for them. Best case the charges have been dropped and I can return freely.

Even then there's still one issue, we won't get anywhere close to the core worlds in Din's ship.

"After this we'll go to Tatooine, swap ships," I tell him, the first words I've spoken since we stepped foot in here. I know he's concerned, but I'll explain it all later, once I can stomach it. "If we take mine they won't be able to link any charges to you since all they have on file is your ship, not your face. Even if they have your armour from footage, there's no way to verify you're the same Mandalorian. You'll be safe, you have my word."

He nods, trusting my word, but it's not his safety he's concerned about. We both watch the child, happily eating the rest of his likely stolen treats without a care in the world. His penchant for mischief aside, he's innocent despite what the Empire has inflicted upon him.

"What did they do to him?" Din asks me in Mando'a, so the child cannot understand.

"I can't be certain," I reply in Mando'a, the thought of what they are doing with his blood almost too much to bear. "It- I'm sick to my stomach Din. Do you think after all these years in the field that happens easily?"

"No," he answers, the most concerned I've ever seen him. "Which is why I need to know."

I nod knowing he does need to know the truth, I'm hardly one to sugar coat, but it will be difficult for him to understand.

"The force," I begin. "It's a complicated thing. To understand the true horror of what the Empire is doing you need to understand the force. It's why the child has been targeted, they weren't just extracting his blood to analyse it. He was a donor. They are injecting his blood into other life forms to attempt make them force sensitive, or even worse things."

"To make them like you?" Din asks naively but how could he possibly know? "To make more Jedi?"

"No, not Jedi," I answer stiffly. "I will explain later once we reach Tatooine, when it is just the two of us."

He nods in understanding, knowing that even though the child cannot understand Mando'a, he can still sense our unease.

"Alright, so we go to Tatooine and take your ship," he says, hesitant at the idea, but it's the only option. "And once we reach Chandrila?"

"I go straight to the Chancellor, try to make her to listen."

"And if she won't?" Din asks, no doubt having his own grievances with the Republic, and I certainly have mine.

Which is why I'm prepared to do what I must.

"Then we take it into our own hands and damn the consequences."

His body shifts and he leans forward towards me, taking my hand in his. The leather brushing my calloused skin.

"This is the way."

My hand tightens around his, in acknowledgement of the understanding we share.

"This is the way."

Neither of us pull away, not until Cara steps into the cantina and actually hesitates when she sees us.

"Sorry to interrupt, but they're here."

Reluctantly I release Din's hand and down the rest of my drink before standing. "Stay here with the kid, just in case."

He nods and I exit with Cara, the teasing smirk she had when we arrived long gone.

"It's bad isn't it?" Is all she asks and I nod stiffly, still struggling with words and she knows not to push me. "You know that kid is in the best hand's he could ever ask for. Your's and Mando's."

"I just hope we'll be enough," I confess to her before we step into Greef's office and I'm surprised and relieved to see the officer standing there is Carson.

"General?" he exclaims in shock at seeing me here on Nevarro, in my soot-stained clothes. "I'd ask what happened but I don't think I need to."

"Had a close call," I reply and he sighs deeply as he sets down his data pad.

"This was your operation, wasn't it?"

"Yep."

"Unsanctioned?"

A proud little smile comes to my lips as I cock my head at him. "I think you know the answer to that."

"General," he sighs, rubbing his temples. "You're in enough trouble with the Republic as it is."

"Always am," I say with a smile, knowing my history with the Republic has been digging myself out of a never ending pile of their shit. "So tell me Carson, have they dropped those charges yet?"

They must have been pressed just after I left Tatooine, weeks ago at this point, surely after the outrage Leia and other senior members of the Rebellion would have had them dismissed.

"Yes," he hesitantly tells me and I let out a grateful breath of relief. "Princess Leia had quite a bit to say about it as you could imagine. But the Chancellor will be wanting to see you."

It's past time I saw her, and now she can't refuse me.

"Perfect, because that base I blew up was an Imperial lab still in operation," I tell him and watch his lips part in horror. "I've got evidence. The tapes from inside and a scientist frozen in carbonite."

Despite his horror, his eyes are hopeful. "Us officers, we've known for a long time something isn't right out here, that the Empire- it's getting stronger. Those on the core worlds don't want to admit it but if you've got the evidence they won't be able to keep denying it."

And I feel calmer knowing that the Rebels will have my back, even if the politicians won't.

"Thank you Carson," I say and look between him and Greef. "So you won't be giving my friend here any trouble?"

He shakes his head. "No, there won't be any issues."

"Thank you," I say again and watch him walk to the door, then he hesitates.

"One more thing," Carson says turning to look at me. "The Mandalorian?"

I just shrug my shoulders. "Don't know, even if I did as Duchess of Mandalore he's legally under my protection."

He knows that first part is a lie, but carries on his way anyways towards Cara who waits outside.

"Thank you for that General," Greef says. "That could have gotten messy."

"It's no problem."

"I'm guessing you'll be on your way now?"

Even with repairs I'm sure Din will want to take it steady until he trusts everything's in order, considering how old the ship is the trip will likely be a couple days even with hyperdrive.

I nod. "We have a long trip ahead of us. Now we know why the child's being targetted we'll set a course for the core worlds. First we'll have to go to Tatooine, to my ship, the Razor Crest has a warrant on it, the last thing I want is to get Mando arrested"

"You really do care about him, don't you?" Greef asks me.

"Mando or the child?" I ask but we both know who he was referring to.

"Mando."

It's just the two of us here, so I nod, not offering any elaboration or explanation.

"He's a good man," Greef tells me then hesitates. "I've worked for the guild for decades Duchess. I've known many bounty hunters, one in particular I've heard you may be familiar with. You should know I've heard rumours-"

"He's dead," I finish curtly and he opens his mouth to interrupt. "His armour is in the Razor Crest, he is dead. I made sure of that."

He swallows whatever words he had and nods. "My apologies. But what I can tell you is that Mando is a good man, a better man."

My throat tightens and I nod stiffly. "I know he is." And I feel Din standing outside, waiting for me, just as Carson's x-wing takes off overhead. "And I trust him."

"I can assure you that your trust is not misplaced."  
  
And I believe him. 

I turn my head to see Cara and Din walking through the door.

"Your charges?" Din asks and the corner of my lip turns up.

"Dropped," I say gratefully, and wonder if there is anything I could do as Duchess of Mandalore to have his dropped. Another thing I'll have to discuss with Leia. "We're all set."

The kid reaches for me with blue crumbs around his mouth from the stolen treats and Din passes him over. "I think it's time someone had a nap."

I laugh lightly as the kid rests his head against my shoulder. "I think we could all use a nap."

"That's for sure," Cara agrees and rests a hand on my shoulder. "It was good seeing you again General."

"You too Dune."

"Take care of him for us will you," Greef says then teases. "Oh, and I mean Mando, not the kid. I know the little guy can handle himself."

While I chuckle Din's slightly less amused, shaking his head at Greef. "We should be on our way."

"Alright," Greef agrees. "But if you two ever want some alone time and need a babysitter-"

"That won't be necessary," Din says while I quickly turn my head away to hide the redness in my cheeks, only for my eyes to land on Cara who wears that same coy little grin and raises an eyebrow at me.

"Be safe you two," Cara laughs but even then I see the undertones behind the look she flashes me. "Don't need anymore-"

"Okay, we're going," I laugh loudly to cut her off, knowing damn well what she was going to say. "If you get into any trouble just let us know."

"Something tells me we won't be the ones getting into trouble," Cara says and gives us a wink as we head through the door, giving them a wave goodbye before we can be subject to anymore teasing.

The kid waves as well and coos up at me tiredly. "Don't worry kid, after this you'll be able to stay put for a little while before we go to Chandrila."

"And you'll explain all of this?" Din asks, still anxious. But it will be easier for him to understand when I can show him where I learned everything I know.

"I will," I swear to him and he trusts my word.  
  
We walk in silence to the ship until I can feel him stiffen as we come to a certain place in the town. He looks down at the half asleep child I can sense his hesitation, then something deeper.

Grief, guilt.

And there's only one thing on Nevarro that could stir such a thing within him.

"Din," I say softly. "Before we go- your covert. Could any be alive?"

The question catches him off guard and his voice is hoarse. "I don't know- the Armourer, she said some could have made it out."

"And her?"

"She refused to leave, so I don't know."

For so many Mandalorians to have been killed just months ago... they may have been a cult but they were still Mandalorian. 

They still died to protect Din and the child.

"If you want to we can go there," I offer then realise he may not want company. "Or I can look after the child if you want to go alone."

For a moment he becomes defensive, putting up his armour. "Why would I want to go there?"

And I tread carefully. "Because you do."

He looks down at me and his voice is quiet, strained. "Someday, but not today."

I nod, knowing myself how difficult it is to confront grief, guilt. "That's okay."

He nods and the conversation seems to be done, then he quietly asks "But if I did, you'd come? Even though the rest of the Mandalorians see us as a cult of religious zealots?"

Bo-Katans words still play on his mind, and I can't blame him. 

"Of course I would Din. You forget I was the Duchess of Mandalore, and despite their beliefs they were still Mandalorian," I say softly as I rest a hand on his arm, but those words don't feel right, my position has nothing to do with why I truly care. "But that's not why. I would because of you. Because they raised you, because they were the only family you knew for decades. They were important to you. And knowing you, I believe that they were good people. They died for the creed, to protect another Mandalorian, to protect you and the child. I would have been honoured to."

He's silent, even as his gloved hand comes up to brush my cheek. My eyes flutter closed at the touch, aching for the touch of his skin against mine but the leather more than suffices. I can almost feel the pounding of his pulse through the glove and imagine how I must look to him, my body so obviously yearning for even the slightest touch.

But as his hand falls away, it becomes just another of the many moments that remain unspoken between us.

"We should get going," he says and I'm glad for the mask, because to see the look on his face would send me over the edge. Even so, the mask can't hide the breathlessness in his voice, nor the tension that hangs between us, growing with each touch, no matter how innocent. 

"We should," I agree, holding the now napping child in my arms. "To Tatooine."

Without another word we approach the Razor Crest, and I wonder if he can hear the pounding of my heart, even if he could, he wouldn't say a word.

But as I've come to learn since the moment I met him, silence is far louder than words could ever be.


End file.
